1st Armoured Reg’t participates in Capstone Convergence 5

The Australian Army’s newly-designated innovation and experimentation unit, the 1^st Armoured Regiment, has taken part in the US Army’s classified Project Convergence Capstone 5 (PCC5) alongside part of the British Army’s Robotics and Autonomous Battle Group. The exercise, in a hostile desert setting, was undertaken at the US Army National Training Center at Ft Irwin in California.

The Squadron’s role is not dissimilar to that of ASCA, the Advanced Strategic capabilities Accelerator, which is now part of the Vice Chief of the Defence Force’s Group: to explore means of getting new technologies into frontline service quickly and at scale.

“It’s an opportunity to share with our key allies and partners on Project Convergence the kind of capabilities we’re employing and showing how we would employ them,” said Colonel Toby Till, the head of the UK experimentation and trials group, which oversees the British Army’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems Battle Group.

US, British, New Zealand, Canadian, French and about 140 Australian personnel gathered at PCC5 for a largely classified ‘experimental’ event to integrate emerging technologies into a joint multinational force conducting multi-domain operations.

“Allies have always fought together and we’ve got to be able to share data. You need to be able to pass that data and get those fire missions and targeting effects across,” Colonel Till said.

Major Ben Peterson, of the 1st Armoured Regiment, said members of A Squadron were enjoying working alongside their British counterparts from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Yorkshire Regiment.

“‘Hyper-teaming’ is one of the key concepts that we are experimenting with on PCC5,” Major Peterson said.

“We’re getting one soldier to do something that previously took many soldiers. For example, a single controller using multiple uncrewed ground and aerial systems at once. As far as I know, this hasn’t been done by our Army before.”

The Australian contingent included personnel from across Army, including artillery, signals, intelligence, infantry, cavalry, logistics and special operations.