It is understood that the British Army will implement a new operational formation composed of disposable and attritable drone layers, preserving a more valuable third layer of conventional and crewed platforms.
Army Technology learned that the service will likely initiate a concept demonstrator for this three-pronged approach during the Helicopter Technology Central and Eastern Europe conference on 22 May in Prague, Czech Republic.
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While the words ‘disposable’ and ‘attritable’ are sometimes used synonymously in describing uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), the two adjectives mean different things in this context.
Disposable UAS – often termed ‘one-way-attack’ or ‘kamikaze’ drones – will make up the first offensive layer to engage the enemy. There is little to no expectation that these systems will be deployed more than once as the units are designed to carry a warhead and detonate on impact with a target. For this reason, they are typically cheaper than other UAS types.
Whereas, it is hoped that attritable systems will return after use. These types of UAS can be used repeatedly for a range of missions, from conducting stand off strikes to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Drone fodder: where does the concept come from?
This is not the first time that a military has considered deploying uncrewed systems in this way. For more than a year, the US Army has been vocal about its efforts to restructure the way they operate to adapt to the new methods of combat with peer rivals.
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By GlobalDataCurrently, the US Army are in the process of distributing thousands of small UAS across its Brigade Combat Teams at the company level. So far, the service has assigned between 300 to 400 systems.
This decision is just one of many policies that constitute a change in the land forces by unburdening soldiers, aligning with a new Army mantra that they no longer want to trade blood for first contact.
This new operational concept also applies in the air, where autonomous collaborative platforms (ACPs) support crewed fighter jets in a tactical concept known as crewed-uncrewed teaming. Hybrid warfare is being pursued by the UK Royal Air Force in its Global Combat Air Programme alongside Italy and Japan, as well as the US Air Force in the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme, for which Anduril and General Atomics are competing for the ACP project.
Tactics at present
Currently, British Army operations rely on crewed platforms, supported by a flurry of ground-based strikes. The Army is currently applying this type of formation in Exercise Northern Strike in Finland, alongside the host nation as well as Sweden.
The British Army deployed the latest AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, armed with 30mm guns and air-to-ground Hellfire missiles, supported by strikes from the ground-based Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS).
Cost is critical
The insertion of a mass of disposable and attritable systems hinges on the affordability of uncrewed systems as well as as a sustainable supply chain to offset the continual loss of systems in the field.
In February 2024, the Ministry of Defence established the Drone Strategy, which would allocate at least £4.5bn ($5.69bn) of investment in the disruptive tech over the next decade, rapidly equipping the armed forces with uncrewed systems across air, sea, and land.
Doubtless, the succeeding Labour government will continue such efforts in drone technology.
Ukraine is a case in point for its steady supply of drones throughout the three-year conflict against invading Russian forces. Last year saw the rise of first-person view (FPV) drones, guided by a user wearing a virtual reality headset, which a GlobalData analyst briefing suggested Ukraine produced 200,000 units in just one month.
Ukraine has also demonstrated the importance of an agile industry response to new trends. Technologies evolve, and more recently, drones tethered by a fibre-optic controlled wire have become the latest trend to avoid jamming.
