The United Kingdom’s 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team will be deployed in 2024 as the core of the British leadership role in NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force starting Jan. 1. The brigade, dubbed “Desert Rats,” led NATO’s Strategic Reserve Force when it was activated in Kosovo in 2022. Its components include a...
Tag: UK
UK Wants to Develop New Defense Materials for Extreme Environments
The United Kingdom’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has established the Defence Materials Centre of Excellence, a $54 million government partnership with 23 industry and academic organizations to develop new defense materials for extreme environments. Dstl said DMEx, which also includes research organizations, like the Catapult Network, will operate under the Henry Royce Institute, a...
Combat Simulations Test AUKUS Robotic Vehicles’ Warfare Capabilities
AUKUS defense solutions scientists subjected the military alliance’s autonomous vehicles to a range of simulated attacks during the Trusted Operation of Robotic Vehicles in a Contested Environment test. The Department of Defense said the testing, held at the Cultana Training Area in South Australia in fall 2023, complemented the work on AUKUS artificial intelligence-powered drones...
Thales Conducts Mine Countermeasure Drone Sea Trials for UK, French Navies
Thales has demonstrated the capabilities of its drone-based mine countermeasure system to find and neutralize submerged threats remotely. During a trial conducted in France, the company remotely deployed its unmanned, underwater vessel to identify sea mines and install exercise charges to complete the neutralization cycle. A Thales team in a facility in Brest, France, served as...
Keysight Secures UK Grants to Develop Open RAN Intelligent Controller
Keysight Technologies has secured two Open Networks Ecosystem competition grants from the U.K. Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to develop an open radio access network intelligent controller. According to Mosaab Abughalib, senior director and general manager for Keysight’s Network Emulation Group, the project will use artificial intelligence and network security algorithms to design new...
Lawmakers Urge UK MoD to Address Recruitment, Retention Crisis
The U.K. House of Commons defense committee has released a report urging the Ministry of Defence to swiftly address the recruitment and retention crisis in the British Armed Forces’ regulars and reservists. Titled “Ready for War?” the report pointed out that the Armed Forces, whenever asked to deploy, consistently overstretch, negatively impacting fighter retention and...