Testing new technologies for the battlefield

The following is a guest post from Captain Graham Henderson, Plans Staff Officer within the Headquarters of the UK’s 1st Mechanized Brigade who participated in the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE).

Heavy wind gusts and unforgiving terrain set ideal conditions for testing new equipment in a joint exercise known as the NIE. The Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) is the US Army’s flagship capability development event that is at the very forefront of technological innovation and integral to the US Army’s modernization agenda. With an unprecedented level of joint and international involvement, the most recent NIE was the seventh in a series of semi-annual field evaluations which focus on improvement and simplification of the Army’s networked capabilities and included three exercises. The first tested, evaluated and demonstrated network equipments and systems as the main part of NIE. The second was a Joint Training Exercise (JTE) and the third element, called Bold Quest, was a coalition exercise with participation from a number of countries. These exercises came to a close in May at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

The UK’s 1st Mechanised Brigade’s Headquarters deployed to NIE, participating primarily in the Joint Training Exercise simulation, making the UK the first country to take part in this exercise with the US. During the simulation, the UK and US forces trained side by side in a combination of live, virtual and constructive battles to help provide personnel location information between Exercise Bold Quest, the NIE and its Joint Training Exercise, and elements in the air and on the ground.

NIE is a major live field trial designed to evaluate emerging technologies and capabilities. It also tests systems and more mature technologies as part of the procurement and acceptance process. The NIE is delivered by the Army Capabilities Integration Centre who works closely with procurement staff from the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology and the Army Test and Evaluation Command. Having developed from long standing field trials as part of force digitization and Future Combat Systems, the NIE established itself as the principle modernization activity during campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the need to rapidly develop systems, particularly in the areas of network development and counter IED (Improvised explosive devices), NIEs were established to test systems and capabilities in the most demanding conditions. The scale of the NIE, which routinely involved a full all armed brigade combat team (BCT), the tempo of operations against a live enemy and the rigors of the harsh terrain of western Texas made it an ideal test bed.

We participated in the most recent NIE aimed to expand the scale and ambition of the original model. Instead of a single player, this exercise was based on a Joint Task Force with the US 1st Armoured Division providing the superior HQ, and saw involvement from the US Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force.

As the US Army turns its attention to challenges beyond Afghanistan, far from becoming irrelevant, the NIE is being given even greater prominence.

Planning for the UK to participate in NIE 14.2 started last December and continued into January. From these visits, our headquarters got a chance to compare planning processes, discuss their organisations and build relationships with the US. The theme of re-learning fundamental war fighting skills, after years of conducting counter-insurgency, was common to both parties.

During the Joint Training Exercise particularly, the rare opportunity to roll out a UK Armed Infantry Brigade in a rich synthetic environment was enjoyed and exploited in full. The simulated battle pulled us rapidly away from our counter-insurgency mindset, borne of years of collective experience, and back to a warfighting mentality. For example, it was a real education working against an enemy with a highly credible air defence capability. Certainly the exercise let us experiment not only in terms of interoperability, but also with of all aspects of the UK Brigade from the rear area to the front line. In the end, naturally, the “war” was won, but not before a final push by the enemy to our flank, halted by the impressive payload of the US Air Force assets under the control of the US Army’s 1st Armored Division Headquarters.

After the exercise, our group took some time to recuperate before going back to the UK. It was an opportunity to reflect, soak up some sun and enjoy the fresh air (having lived under artificial light, with no windows, for the duration of the battle).

A large number of lessons were learned by our brigade. These fed our embryonic UK / US interoperability question sets, Brigade Headquarters concepts of employment, how we might fight our Brigade, and so on. Indeed the experience has thoroughly broadened the minds of the staff and will undoubtedly better place them for future training events and interoperability challenges that loom on the horizon. Perhaps the key lesson is a reminder that whilst there are some technical challenges that come with working to a US Headquarters, these are comfortably overmatched by the natural affinity of the US and UK military.

About Captain Graham Henderson:
Captain Graham Henderson is a Plans Staff Officer within the Headquarters of the UK’s 1st Mechanized Brigade who participated in the Network Integration Evaluation (NIE). He has served in the HQ for almost 2 years – completing a deployment to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Helmand; the UK Brigade HQ supporting 2 Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) as the Coalition led HQ Regional Command (South West). He subsequently deployed to California in support of 1 MEF as they prepared for their deployment to Afghanistan in 2014. He has also previously worked alongside US Armed Forces in Iraq; attending their COIN Academy in Taji as part of a mentoring deployment in 2008.