The threat to mobility – interactive discussion group

Our panel will include:

• Lt Gen (Ret.) Ben Hodges, Former Commanding General, US Army Europe.
• Lt Gen (Ret.) Carsten Jacobsen, Former Deputy Commanding General, German Army.
• Col Tom Hough, Commander of the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, US Army.
• Col (Ret.) Richard Beatson, Business Development Director, Pearson Engineering, and former end-user of Pearson Engineering equipment.
• Lt Col Jim Howard, Commanding Officer, Royal Tank Regiment British Army. Currently leading ‘Project Streetfighter’.

NATO is again viewing peer on peer conflict in Europe as both the most likely and the most demanding conflict scenario.  As Allied Forces take-part in the annual Spring Storm exercise in Estonia to strengthen integration between NATO troops on European soil, Exercise Swift Response is planned to take place in Latvia and U.S Army Europe’s DEFENDER exercise will take place in Poland, we ask: How have battlefield mobility & counter-mobility requirements changed since the Cold War and what might they look like 10 years from now?

Military commentators report that the acceleration in technological development and urbanisation mean that superior capability is no longer enough to respond to Anti-Access/Area Denial challenges (A2/AD). Adversaries have had the opportunity to study NATO members’ ‘way of war’ in recent years and success will now be found in the strength of alliances, adaptability, inter-operability and importantly, reduction in time to respond to threats.

A European setting will also bring in different challenges. As well as facing the dynamics of an urban environment, Armed Forces must prepare for manoeuvre in dense forest, in areas with wide ranging expansive rivers, and potentially in an Arctic environment.

In response, Armoured Vehicles, operating in the multi-domain battlefield are being delivered with increasingly flexible mission profiles, greater agility, and operational mobility. Procurement of smaller, lighter IFVs and APCs is trending upwards whilst survivability, lethality and mobility requirements become ever more demanding too. In addition, the traditional ‘Iron Triangle’ of capability requirements has been updated and now also features Adaptability, Connectivity and Supportability to meet the needs of a more dynamic, multi-layered, and technologically developed urban context.

Our expert panel of speakers from Europe and the United States will discuss the role of armoured vehicles in urban and non-urban warfare, the challenges they expect to face and how they are developing new solutions in collaboration with industry, and industry’s role in supporting speed, adaptability and flexibility.

Further, we will discuss the continuing role of ever more sophisticated and creative Improvised Explosive Devices in the future conflict environment, and the lessons learnt from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan that may have application in a European conflict scenario.

Pearson Engineering are pleased to facilitate this conversation for the benefit of our international and UK customers.