News story

New Red Teaming Handbook published

A practical guide to using red teaming techniques that can be applied by individuals or teams to the problems they face.

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

The Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) has published a new Red Teaming Handbook designed to support individuals and teams that are faced with different problems and challenges in Defence.

What is red teaming?

Red teaming uses a range of critical thinking techniques to aid decision-making, overcome biases and is a valuable problem solving tool for operational commanders at all levels.

The first set of techniques, red team mindset, can be used in time-pressured situations that need quick assessments. The second set of red teaming techniques can be applied to more complex problems that require more deliberate judgements.

What is different about this edition?

The handbook differs significantly from previous editions in that it focuses on the red team mindset – using red teaming techniques that can be applied by individuals or teams to the problems they face, rather than focusing on establishing formal red teams. Approaches to formal red teams are discussed, but this is not the central theme of the new edition.

How will the Red Teaming Handbook benefit me?

If you need to solve problems and make decisions, the Red Teaming Handbook can help.

The first part of the handbook is aimed at anyone faced with solving problems and making decisions across all levels of an organisation.

The second part of the handbook is aimed at organisations who are considering a formal red team capability, either permanently or temporarily.

The handbook is equally applicable to both civilian and military audiences and will be of interest to all government departments.

Read the Red Teaming Handbook (Third Edition)

Updates to this page

Published 30 June 2021