Cubic Defence Australia transforms ADF training with drone combat
A Townsville defence company has given soldiers their first taste of realistic drone warfare during Australia's largest war games, as the technology reshapes modern combat.
Soldiers who trained in drone warfare as part of Australia’s largest war games, Exercise Talisman Sabre, experienced a more immersive realistic experience thanks to a Townsville-based company.
Cubic Defence Australia was started in the city in 2007 by veterans, employs veterans and has formed a close bond with the Australian Defence Force, especially in Townsville, with the Combat Training Centre and 3rd Brigade at Lavarack Barracks.
The Garbutt company, in part, specialises in providing the ADF with a comprehensive drone/unscrewed aerial system (UAS) adversary service, delivering realistic training effects replicating modern drone tactics and threats.
This service also gives commanders and soldiers training in the field enhanced battlefield awareness with surveillance capabilities to gather intelligence and target the enemy.
Cubic can play the role of an opposing force in training enabling soldiers to rehearse their response to drone threats.
The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how the effective use of drones has changed the modern battlefield and also how the use of UAS in contemporary and covert operations such as the June Ukrainian drone attack Operation Spiderweb in Siberia can have a devastating effect.
The company’s Director for Strategic Development for the Indo Pacific Mark Horn said Cubic’s services helped to prepare solders for different battlefield scenarios so they could readily meet potential drone threats.
“Cubic’s training support provides a realistic, immersive experience that enables objective data to be captured and performance improvement to occur, ultimately achieving enhanced combat readiness,” Mr Horn said.
This immersive experience has been used in training exercises in the Townsville region this year, including during the North Queensland Warfighter exercise which finished in June, and Cubic teams also employed their expertise around the county in Exercise Talisman Sabre which concluded this week.
“Everyone at Cubic is involved in supporting training services in some way, from people that are performing manufacture and production, through to engineers, through to actual front end delivery personnel working with the exercising ADF, and some people physically on the exercise out in the field as well,” Mr Horn said.
“It’s all hands to the pumps, if you like, distributed over a really broad part of Australia, from north Western Australia, the Northern Territory throughout North and Central Queensland. In fact, many ‘Cubes’ [Cubic employees] have deployed for up to six weeks to achieve Exercise Talisman Sabre outcomes.”
Mr Horn said Cubic specialised in collective training.
“What that means is when people have had their initial training that enables them to perform as individuals or in a very small team, they’re coming together to realise a greater capability and a defined level of operational readiness,” he said.
“For example, that may be a number of ships’ crews. It may be an aircrew group in an air combat scenario, or it may be a land domain amphibious or land combat related exercise, or perhaps all those scenario’s combined, in the case of large exercises such as Exercise Talisman Sabre.”
Mr Horn said drone warfare was just another evolution in military warfare.
“It’s really important to understand that military technology changes all the time, and various types of warfare change all the time, that the use of semi-autonomous or autonomous vehicles or drones in air and ground and maritime environments is having a marked impact on warfare,” he said.
“One of these periods of change that we see in the World War One equivalent would be a hot air or hydrogen observation balloon, combined with the trench mortar, combined with the jam tin bomb – now all of those functions can be employed by one single, two kilogram flying vehicle.”
Mr Horn said drones where being used for different purposes in the military context – especially in the Ukrainian conflict.
“I think the functions that we’re seeing them employed for is, first of all, to act as the first point of contact. Napoleonic period tacticians employed ‘skirmishers’ in front of their formed tactical units to screen them. Drones can perform a similar function as the 19th century ‘skirmisher’ capability,” he said.
“The skirmisher role was to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance function that’s close to the formed body, to optimise targeting and employ kinetic effects. Drones can support other functions including resupply, transportation and long range reconnaissance to inform grander plans.
“Of course, we’re dealing with drones of various sizes as well, so establishing drones that have a medium and a high level of operating capability that persist is also going to enable larger and more significant elements of a defence force to operate effectively.”
He said drones could use different payloads for specific military roles.
“For instance, examples of drone payloads, are various kinetic payloads, electronic warfare payloads and payloads that are designed to provide different non-kinetic effects. Like a voice speaker system that can actually communicate, either remotely or with prerecorded sounds from the drone.
“In the Ukrainian conflict, we’ve seen drones being used to remove or reduce the danger associated with the process of surrendering- overcoming that moment of uncertainty regarding whether or not the shooting will or will not continue.”
Mr Horn said current drone technology was commercially available off the shelf and its low cost effectiveness in military contexts was being closely monitored around the world
“To start at a high level, all Western militaries are re-evaluating the concept of the exquisite platform, be it a land based vehicle or a flying or hovering platform, they are all vulnerable to expedient drones and other low cost effects. They’re re-evaluating platform integration to combined arms fighting systems in which various threats posed by cheap throw devices can be defeated by various capabilities integrated into a battlefield system.”
But he said it was important for Australia to have control over its technology for military use drones.
“We must ensure we have built security into the supply chain for autonomous technologies so our drones can be trusted to act in accordance with their purpose. used for military use and not incorporate parts made in countries,” he said
“I think, the Australian Defence Force, the defence industry and the Ukraine conflict and other conflicts have really brought home the necessity for sovereign capabilities, and this is something that’s reflected, obviously in our (2023) Defence Strategic Review.
“What that means is the ability to have control of the defence industry supply chain, and make decisions that are inherently Australian. So the drones we’re employing are from an Australian supply chain, that also helps the development of industry, particularly in regions where Defence operates.
Mr Horn said the training provided by Cubic was making a real impact to preparing ADF soldiers for the possibility of conflict.
“The alternative to this is to ‘pretend’ (in training scenarios) and go back to training exercises where battlefield effects are adjudicated by ‘umpires’,” he said.
“The contemporary battlefield is too complex for that to be practical in military training. For example, drones can be controlled in the first person, flown remotely, act on preset flight plans or combination of those controls types.
“Soldiers have the ability to engage or avoid drone threats, but trying to simulate those engagements with a human umpire does not adequately replicate real-life combat and could potentially lead to incorrect outcomes, incorrect lessons being applied to training.
“A technology based simulation training system enables participants to physically conduct the actions they are required to perform, within the sequenced time that is necessary to determine battlefield effects.
“The simulation system accounts for detection, countermeasures, impact, damage and even includes automated repairs and first aid actions. Supporting participants to undertake realistic actions to achieve intended effects provides both rehearsal and training outcomes that improve their readiness for real-world military operations.”
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Originally published as Cubic Defence Australia transforms ADF training with drone combat
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