British Military Modernization Aligns With US Effort
As the F-35 is introduced across the world this will rapidly increase military realtime intelligence gathering techniques and the ability for instant retaliation to attacks
The end of the war in Afghanistan and the subsequent statement by the USA that it is considering its role as the world’s policeman, means that the world will initially become a more dangerous place.
Nation building and large numbers of boots on the ground will be replaced by new doctrines, ideas, training and deployments to defeat terrorism and other threats. This process has already started with the US using targeted drone strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan on key targets using US or offshore locations.
The use of such tactics is likely to increase and will be extended to precision missile strikes using cruise missiles and eventually a whole new range of advanced hypersonic missiles.
As the F-35 is introduced across the world this will rapidly increase military realtime intelligence gathering techniques and the ability for instant retaliation to attacks as happened in Afghanistan last month after the Kabul airport bomb.
The use of 24/7 air operations supported by the F-35 to insert Special Forces and other teams will likely increase using V-22 Ospreys which are capable of flying direct from base to in-country locations without transitioning to tactical transports such as C-130 Hercules. The V-22’s will hold fast, heavily armed, light-strike interdiction vehicles with troops equipped with night vision devices allowing 24/7 operations. Communication with these teams is crucial, thus military commanders in the Land Environment will be enabled by agile Information Communication Services, giving them the ability to make informed and timely decisions. To allow fast moving 24/7 international strikes, advanced multi-domain communications will be required to link the target area to the Headquarters and/or frontline to ensure that civilian casualties are minimised. The US, UK, NATO, Australia and the EU have programmes in train to prove the warfighter with 24/7 access to multidomain communications.
The British Army in particular is modernising and transforming to face the challenges in this era of constant competition. In terms of the top three of what’s changed: The British Army is creating a digital backbone to deliver a single information environment. The British Army is about more persistent engagement to deliver greater anticipation and about delivering an ability to create networked real time links between any sensor, any decider, and any shooter to harness pan-domain effect to be delivered into the land-environment.
In September C4ISR & Networks reported that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan prompted Pentagon officials working on the Joint All-Domain Command and Control concept to ask: “Do troops have access to data they need on the ground, absent of an adversary capable of disrupting that access?” The answer was “no.”