British Army boosts readiness on eastern flank amid tensions with Russia

On the territory of a former Soviet airfield in Latvia, not far from the Russian border, the British military is conducting large-scale exercises, testing new communication systems between drones, robotic equipment and artillery.

As Bloomberg reports , the experiments are designed to test how digital technologies can change the nature of modern warfare and make the army more mobile.

During the “Forest Guardian” exercise, soldiers from the British Army’s 11th Brigade worked with a new battlefield management system called Cobalt, developed by startup Arondite Ltd. Its main goal is to replace paper maps and long chains of command with a digital network that connects all units, from infantry to drones.

“In the future, this system will allow for more precise weapon guidance and faster response to threats,” the Bloomberg article says.

The implementation of such solutions is part of the strategic modernization program of the British Army and NATO, which is relying on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and digital technologies.

After a series of incidents involving violations of NATO airspace — including the appearance of Russian fighter jets over Estonia and drones over Poland — the issue of technological superiority has become even more pressing. In response, the UK has deployed its aircraft to patrol Polish skies.

“One of the main tasks is to make a smaller army more effective over a larger area,” explained Brigadier General Matt Lewis, commander of the 11th Brigade, during an interview at the command center in Latvia.

British Defense Minister John Healy announced that by 2029, the government will invest more than $5.3 billion in the development of autonomous systems and another more than $1 billion in the creation of a digital guidance network that will connect all combat units into a single information system.

The exercise in Latvia, which is currently home to 250 British soldiers from 3rd Battalion 3 SCOTS, is the largest deployment of British forces to the country since the 1990s. Latvian and Canadian troops are training alongside the British.

The tests revealed a number of problems, from GPS failures to the difficulties of operating the equipment in the swamps and dense forests of the Baltic. Some of the military are working with the Cobalt platform and remotely controlled drones for the first time.

“Latvia and Finland present a geographical challenge that the British Army has not faced for decades,” admits General Lewis.
“Our goal is to make the team as mobile as possible, but at the same time able to make quick decisions thanks to access to data.”

Some of the units will soon be transferred to Finland, which joined NATO in 2023. The forest and marshy areas there will be a test for drones and robotic equipment.

According to Bloomberg, the UK may deploy its forces in Ukraine in the future if peace agreements are reached. The plan involves training Ukrainian military personnel in rear areas and supporting air and sea control with British naval and air forces.

Arondite co-founder and former British infantry officer Will Blythe noted that the main goal is to learn how to quickly update technology, drawing on experience from the battlefield:

“If we approach the next conflict with old cycles of adaptation, we will lose. The winner will be the one who can improve in real time.”

Recall that Ukrainian intelligence has data on the Kremlin’s active preparations for a potential armed conflict with NATO.

In addition, the North Atlantic Alliance is actively discussing the introduction of a unified approach to responding to Russian aircraft that may pose a threat to the security of member countries.

As reported, NATO Secretary General MarkRutte said that NATO may shoot down Russian planes if they pose a threat to alliance countries . If there is no threat, the planes will simply be intercepted and removed from NATO airspace.

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