During October and November, the 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team (20 ACBT) will be in the US to work with our allies and test of range of innovative systems.
Project Convergence 22, for which the UK is contributing 450 soldiers, will test around 17 cutting-edge systems and technologies, including some for the first time ‘on the ground’.
This exercise is designed to help make the British Army more lethal on the battlefield, by cutting down on time and complications in what is called the ‘sensor-decider-effector’ chain.
One of the ways of doing this will be to speed up the process by which the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) is fired, by use of automation and sensors on the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.
Other methods of increasing lethality that are being tested in California include combining one of our air defence assets, the Giraffe Agile Multi Beam (G-AMB) radar, with the network that the Americans use in order to better coordinate our protection.
It is not just all about equipment; from a human perspective, the newly-formed Ranger Regiment will operate alongside US Special Operations Forces to swap tactics, while a British Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Platoon will provide reconnaissance and logistical support.
The RAS capability will be provided by the 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment, who have recently completed a posting in Cyprus, where they trialled an array of systems to determine their effectiveness for future infantry use.
The Watchkeeper WK450 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) will provide the eyes in the sky while a range of other technologies will support situational awareness and the processing of intelligence within 20 ACBT headquarters.
Project Convergence is the premier US Army experimentation exercise, seeking to define how the US and international partners, including the UK and Australia, will fight in a multi-domain battlespace.
More than a singular event, this is a sustained campaign of learning designed to advance and integrate our allied forces and ensure that we can rapidly and continuously ‘converge’ effects across the battlefield.
As the Project progresses over the course of the next few weeks, the British Army will provide updates, using photos and videos, that you can track via our website and social media channels.