Survivability and signature at the forefront of Brolga Run exercise

Survivability and signature are the key elements of this years Exercise Brolga Run as technology to locate troops advances. See how the Australian Army is flying under the radar out field.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has made the Australian Army rethink their current approach to war and how they organise their capabilities to ensure they remain unseen as technologies continue to advance. During the current Exercise Brolga Run this shift in tactics is being put to the test.

The 2024 Brolga Run is underway with around 5000 troops from 3rd Brigade, the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force and the United States Army and Marine Corps hitting the ground at the Townsville Field Training Area.

On Wednesday afternoon, Commander of 3rd Brigade Brigadier Dave McCammon was managing the close to 2000 troops in the field ahead of their first move against the enemy at 8pm that night.

“We’ve got to control them, manage them and make sure when we are moving we don’t bump into each other and don’t shoot each other,” Brigadier McCammon said.

“We come up here and get all our logistics set and give our orders for how we are going to fight and then we go forward to fight but then at the same time we are doing that the enemy is trying to target and kill us.”

Brigadier Dave McCammon, commander of Townsville-based 3rd Brigade speaking at the Townsville Field Training Area during Exercise Brolga Run. Picture: Blair Jackson.

This year’s exercise looks a bit different to previous years as different tactics are introduced to maximise their survivability and minimise their signature in the field, an important lesson that has arisen from the war in Ukraine.

“It’s a bit of a journey for the Army because when we fought in Afghanistan we used to have a patrol base – it’s very hard to attack you in a patrol base – so you manage your logistics and control your movement from there,” he said.

“Now what we are seeing in Ukraine is that headquarters elements are very targettable.”

To ensure headquarters remains intact during 3rd Brigades simulated war, they have split it into three command nodes that prioritise minimising the risk of being located and the ability to move locations within 10 minutes if they are identified through the use of drones, radar or communication interception.

“If you were to come out and see the brigade five years ago we would have had a massive tent system, we would have set it up on the air field and we wouldn’t have worried about the enemy getting in behind the battle groups and killing us,” Brigadier McCammon said.

“Now the good thing about having three nodes is that if the drone finds one and attacks one, I can stop that one and another node can take control while another one is moving to take control so that’s the plan.”

With the rising use of Starlink and the growing threat of AI in communication interception, Brigadier McCammon said that the risk of information being intercepted is a growing threat.

“Starlink isn’t a secure link … so in Ukraine they talk on Starlink and mobile phones and they accept that the minute you send that information someone can interrogate it,” he said.

Brigade Command for the 2024 Exercise Brolga Run. Photo: Major Taylor Lynch

“If you were in Ukraine and you were using a mobile phone or using Starlink you can say ‘I’ll meet you somewhere in 10 minutes’ and just hope that in 10 minutes time whoever has heard it, is not going to be in position.”

“Our radios here are secure and they frequency hop so unless you are on our radio net all you hear when we transmit is (static), you can’t hear what we are saying.”

“I feel that things like Starlink and mobile phones are kind of ok at the moment in Ukraine but we are just reaching that threshold of AI so lets say in a year or two, what happens when AI is far more efficient in interrogation of communications.

“It’s all right now, you can send a message and it takes a while to catch up. Say two to three years when AI is interrogating the system constantly and is able to say ‘someone just said they are about to move in 2 minutes time to this location’, it can have a real impact.”

Originally published as Survivability and signature at the forefront of Brolga Run exercise