Shaping the way to win on land through operational analysis
Dstl operational analysis is shaping the way the British Army will fight and win in future conflicts.
Over the last 2 years, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has carried out more analytical war games in support of Army HQ decision-making than ever before.
Dstl partnered with Army HQ’s Futures Directorate to run a campaign of experimentation using a range of war gaming tools, concluding with a series of events known as Army Wargame 23 (AWG23).
The aim of these events was to help shape the Army’s new Land Operating Concept (LOpC).
Dstl used 3 war games over 14 weeks to explore the strategic, operational and tactical aspects of the Army’s proposed new way of operating. As well as the impact of various capability enhancements to find and strike adversaries and defend from air attack. This included a manual war game (map, counters, dice and rule book) to understand how the Army might advance into the operating theatre and survive. Such as, through engagement with the host nation and making use of prepositioned equipment and munitions.
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A second high-level manual war game assessed the full warfighting capabilities of the division, while a detailed computerised war game, examined the tactical fight.
The wargaming output (which was subjected to a robust evaluation through the use of Dstl’s evidence framework approach) has been instrumental to the Army’s new operating concept, and has also informed the Army’s capability investment plan. These war games will also provide the context for land system concepts research over the coming years.
In response to these changes, the British Army will:
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fight by recce-strike: combine surveillance capabilities with artillery and other strike assets to find the enemy as far forward as possible, and destroy them at every level from battlegroup to corps
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adopt a new approach to survival: putting the protection of soldiers at the heart of the new strategy
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exploit the electromagnetic spectrum and cyberspace to outmanoeuvre, outpace and outmarch the opponent to give tactical advantage
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develop a new approach for logistics: drawing on dispersal, concealment and forward manufacture and repair
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seize the initiative in the information environment: increasing the speed, reach and sophistication of information warfare capabilities (including calling out misinformation)
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