Page 3 - Five Forces of Americanisation Richard Hooke 04072025 final post SDR1

The UK Defence Industry in the 21 Century
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The Five Forces of Americanisation

Troops from 2nd Battalion The Royal Yorkshire Regiment fire 81mm mortar bombs during a live demonstration
on Salisbury Plain Training Area on 20th September 2024.
The Experimentation and Trials Group recce-strike live fire event, held in Imber Village on Salisbury Plain Training
Area, and using soldiers from Alma Company 2nd Battalion The Royal Yorkshire Regiment, is an experimentation
and explanation of how the Army might integrate, train, and fight in the future. Inspired by ongoing wars in
Ukraine and Gaza, it focuses on the integration of uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and drones at the battlegroup,
company, and platoon levels, and termed the Next Generation Combat Team (NGCT).
It considers the increased complexity of operating in, commanding, and controlling, a three-dimensional
battlespace. It stresses that interconnectivity between soldiers is vital to success, to enable much quicker
dynamic decision making; as well as a requirement for a significant increase in company and platoon level kit
and equipment to include UAS and counter-UAS equipment including combat shotguns, DroneShields and
more.*

Source: UK Ministry of Defence, 2024

*italic text highlighted by the author

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07/07/2025 Richard Hooke 2025