Page 16 - MERCIAN Eagle 2019

Pl Comd: Pl Sgt: WR Sgt:
Lt Connor
Sgt Rai
Sgt Lord and Thomas
14
4 Platoon
During September 2019, 1 MERCIAN participated in Exercise VIRTUAL EAGLE; an exercise aimed at supporting the
British Army’s development of Warrior
2, Challenger 3 and AJAX in various offensive and defensive actions. Ultimately, the purpose of this virtual exercise was
to determine if, and how, our doctrine would change under this new capability, particularly given the addition of the Active Protection System (APS) for the Warrior
2. With a week to familiarise ourselves
with both the new capability and potential changes to Battlegroup-level doctrine,
1 MERCIAN and AJAX Squadron (RTR) undertook a visit to the Armoured Trials and Development Unit (ATDU) in Bovington to get hands on with the capability ahead of our two week exercise phase.
In order to appropriately compare the doctrinal impact of the Warrior 2, the
1 MERCIAN Battlegroup was faced with three scenarios; an advance to contact,
a mobile defence and a delay operation. Both current and future capabilities were utilised in these actions, thus allowing the civilian analysts attached to the exercise to monitor changes in our tactics against peer capabilities. Not surprisingly, the Battlegroup was much more effective under the Warrior CSP and Ajax Armoured Reconnaissance vehicle, however it was interesting to see how the adopted tactics changed with this enhanced capability. Though the exercise was virtual in nature, there were tangible lessons to be learnt for 1 MERCIAN in how best to utilise these capabilities and offered a useful reflection in the way we currently adopt our tactics against a peer enemy.
A ‘virtual’ dismount poised ready to dismount during Ex VIRTUAL EAGLE! / Bulford / Sep 19
Capt Dyson and WO2 Macpherson control B Coy as they leave the FUP during Ex VIRTUAL EAGLE / Bulford /
Sep 19
Capt Dyson, Coy 2IC conducting a ROC drill during Ex VIRTUAL EAGLE / Bulford / Sep 19
THE MERCIAN EAGLE