‘Changing face of warfare’: Major Chris Wishart on the new tech making fighting easier
The ADF have been quietly fast-tracking their next generation of drone technology as they prepare for a future in which wars are fought by unmanned machines.
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When the covert drone attack Operation Spier’s Web destroyed up to 20 planes at a Russian Base in Eastern Siberia in early June the world immediately sat up and took notice of the new way wars will be fought.
But while the Ukrainian orchestrated attack make headlines around the world, The Australian Defence Force has been quietly fast-tracking its next generation of drone or uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
At the Townsville Field Training Area last week during Exercise Warfighter, soldiers from the 20th Regiment Royal Australian Artillery, were putting the army’s latest UAS, the through its first of several certifications before being rolled out for operational use.
The new Integrator Tactical Uncrewed Aerial System (TUAS) provides the Army’s combat brigades with enhanced abilities to gather intelligence, undertake reconnaissance and surveillance missions, and acquire targets for weapons systems across the Australian Defence Force.
A key feature of the Integrator is its interoperability including the ability to be controlled by an Apache Attack helicopter pilot to further enhance the helicopter’s lethality.
The drone is also be operated by a single soldier, is not runway dependant, instead can be recovered by a sky hook system.
Commander 132 Battery Major Chris Wishart from the artillery regiment has been part of the certification progress for the drone and said it had so far passed with flying colours.
“It’s an exciting exercise for us. We’re doing our IOC activity, which is our initial operational capability activity, which essentially is us proving to government that what they’ve spent their money on can do a portion of the job that it’s supposed to do at this stage of the project,” the major said.
He said the use of drones in Ukrainian conflict were changing the methodology of modern warfare.
“There is within military philosophy things called revolutions in military affairs, which is something like the invention of the machine gun or barbed wire, tank, nuclear weapons and cyber warfare.
“I don’t know whether I would say that drones are of that scale of change, but I think what they do allow is for smaller nations, which have smaller populations, to increase their lethality and their capability drastically at a significantly cheaper rate than what would it would cost to do with manned platforms.
“For example, precision guided munitions. The Ukrainians are showing that drones can be used to replace very expensive satellite or GPS guided munitions at a fraction of the cost, which is essentially negated a large amount of Russian air defence, for example and I think that is a significant change.”
He said UAS systems, in conjunction with satellites had made the battlefield more transparent.
“With the proliferation of satellite and UAS technologies, it is a lot harder to hide in the battle space than it used to be, and I think as a result, we are investing in increasing the survivability of our soldiers, inclusive of a return to things like trench warfare bunkers, drone nets and all of the other things that come along with having hundreds, if not 1000s of these systems flying in the air.”
The major said new Integrator UAS has been well received from the chain of command at 3rd Brigade during its recent test exercise.
“The feedback that we’ve received from Headquarters 3rd Brigade has been incredibly positive on the exercise.
“The asset was used to target a number of assets in support of Divisional targets, which is not something that they would have been capable of doing without us.
“Also we were capable of providing enhanced situational awareness direct into their joint fires and effects co-ordination cell, which is where they co-ordinate all of their offensive support from, so that we could relay target data directly to them in real time.
“They’ve been happy with the performance,” the major said.
Commanding officer 3rd Brigade Brigadier Ben McLennan said Integrator UAS was one of the world’s most advanced drones and had proved highly successful during Exercise Warfighter.
“It enabled the 1st Division Headquarters rapidly collect, fuse and promulgate valuable intelligence. The Integrator allowed 3 Bde (Armoured) to rapidly find, fix and finish enemy targets as well as detect and avoid enemy threats to our own capability,” the brigadier said.
He said the ‘real time surveillance afforded by the Integrator had given them a competitive edge in the exercise against the ‘enemy’.
“In a lethal contest where ‘minutes matter’, the real time surveillance has allowed us to be routinely one move/step ahead of a tough, realistic enemy force.
The brigadier said drone warfare had definitely changed military thinking.
“YouTube and broader social media are not lying. The use of drones, which proved decisive during the 44-day Second Nagorno-Karabakh War of 2020, are practically ubiquitous, that is everywhere, during the ongoing Ukraine-Russia War.
“Whether in an attack, defence or logistics role, they are a technology, like gun powder, the tank and the aeroplane, that is changing the character of warfare.”
He said The Australian Defence Force was fast tracking drone technology and also counter drone technology.
“Our Army Headquarters, and Defence more broadly, are fast tracking the acquisition and delivery of both drone and counter-drone technology. At the local level, in co-operation with small, local, veteran-led companies, to flood 3 Bde with our own low-cost drones, following the Ukrainian Armed Forces example.”
Entrenched in training
Soldiers from the 1RAR infantry battalion, some as young as 18, are learning about the limits of technology as they turn back time and embrace a completely different kind of warfare.
The training comes in response to the ongoing Ukrainian conflict which has seen the battle lines between opposing Ukrainianand Russian forces devolve into hundreds and hundreds of kilometres of fortified trenches – reminiscent of WWI.
For the Australian soldiers the live fire assault on the 150m of trenches at High Range was the culmination of Exercise BrolgaRun.
Commanding Officer 1RAR Lieutenant Colonel Benedict Farrell said the exercise also involved other elements of 3rd Brigadein a combined assault force.
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“We’ve also got enablers from 2nd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment and 4th Regiment, which is the artillery unit,” he said.
“When you put all that together, we actually become Coral Battle Group. It’s called Coral after the Battle of Coral in Vietnam.”
The said the training scenario involved a combat team of 140 infantry soldiers. with fire support, assault the defensive trench.
“You’ll have tanks firing suppressing the position and artillery suppressing the position that enables the infantry to close with the enemy. Engineers will then conduct an explosive breach.”
He said the war in Ukraine had turned military thinking on its head with the re-emergence of trench warfare and it was almost back to the future.
“Those skill sets that were around 100 years ago haven’t gone away, and now we’re in that period of stark contrast of modern technologies and entrenched warfare sort of coming together.”
The commander said modern warfare technology and capabilities enabled soldiers to get to the enemy’s trench – but once there the fighting became old school.
“From an infantry point, and I suppose that’s the as a light infantry officer to start with, there’s probably nothing more intimate for us in closing with the enemy.
“So in the trench, once you’re in it, and the individual fighting their way through the trench that is very akin to World War 1.
“The technology piece is that you can add all these technologies to assist you to get to that point.
“But once you’re in the trench, it becomes a violent sort of experience. All the other technologies are useful and essential,but it still comes down to individuals clearing trenches.” he said.
Originally published as ‘Changing face of warfare’: Major Chris Wishart on the new tech making fighting easier
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