The multiple command posts and locations enabled the ARRC to develop a number of technical and physical strands of innovation. Following recent high level decision making regarding the future of Corps enablement this was the first time the ARRC had been able to exercise with both UK divisions, alongside the Canadian and Italian divisions, as well as those UK formations newly formally aligned to support the Corps – 1 Avn Bde, MNFAB, 8 Engr Bde, 2 Med Gp, 7 AD Gp, and 1 MP Bde. A key outcome of the exercise was to develop the command relationships between the ARRC and its subordinates, and for the ARRC and those formations to both teach the other and to learn from each other’ s ways of operating. Using multiple locations and communication nodes the exercise was able to test a more realistic picture of relying on communications systems to enable the operation of Corps level activity across a wide geographical area.

CP1, the larger of the two ARRC CPs contained the Current Operations and Future Operations pistons of the HQ and was focussed on the prosecution of the battle including fires, intelligence, and manoeuvre. The HQ was augmented from around the British Army and ARRC Participating Nations as well as more widely – notably with personnel from Sweden. The Joint Fires and Influence Branch focussed on the delivery of offensive deep operations having developed a new concept for the delivery of a Recce-Strike capability for the Corps including the positioning of artillery and intelligence gathering assets within the Corps hierarchy and delivering these effects through a further evolution of the MNFAB concept. Throughout the CPs the further digitisation of HQ processes was developed, with the inclusion of new AI driven software solutions between the MCLCC and ARRC, as well as the further development of the ARRC’ s extant digital capabilities. This delivered a layered digital framework through which all HQ processes flowed internally as well as down to the Divisions and Corps Troops and upwards to the MCLCC.

Sited underground, CP2 contained ARRC’ s Future Plans function as well as Sustainment and Protection including Logistics, Engineering and

Air Defence. The deployment to an austere subterranean location for a staff working environment presented significant challenges. The provision of to a CP around 30m underground was overcome with the installation of improved infrastructure, above ground generation, and experimentation with emerging technologies to both enable the exercise and examine how future exercises and operations could be sustained where one or more of the methods used were not available. Digital communication from an underground location to sites hundreds of miles distant required the use of communications relays to link the CP with the surface and wider exercise locations, with 1 Sig Bde ensuring communication resilience throughout the deployment. The lived experience for the ARRC staff was also an area of focus for CP2. A number of environmental considerations had to be considered throughout including temperature, humidity, airflow, and other physical and environmental hazards associated with subterranean operations. While feeding and accommodation was provided for above surface on Ex AvT25 personnel spent significant lengths of time underground which limited their exposure to natural light, required the wearing of protective headgear throughout, and operating in a constantly cool environment of around 12 ° C. 1 Sig Bde and HQ ARRC worked with the Human Performance Optimisation team from Army HQ who’ s Project EDGE seeks to improve and optimise Army personnel’ s physical and cognitive abilities across the Army. Staff deploying to CP2 were invited to participate in a Project EDGE study, in which personnel wore personal monitoring devices and were completed journals and interviews throughout in order to assess the impact of subterranean working on those individuals. While the results of this study are yet to be produced, it will no doubt help inform the planning and execution of future deployments to the subterranean environment for both the ARRC and the British Army.

The Commander’ s Tactical CP was enabled as a mobile capability consisting of a number of vehicles fitted with communications equipment that allowed the COM to operate across all of the deployed digital platforms to maintain his own situational awareness as well as exercising Command and Control across the ARRC and its subordinate formations. Notably, he was able to maintain communications even when flying between the UK and Germany and not just when deployed on the ground in vehicles. This level of flexibility allowed the COM to move between sites as the balance of effort changed between the CPs and also to push himself forwards to the Divisions and Corps Troops elements deployed elsewhere.

The balance of the deployment took place in Grafenwöhr, Germany from where the exercise was enabled by the USAREUR-AF and Joint Multinational Simulation Centre EXCON as well as the ARRC EXCON and LOCONs from the Divisions and Corps Troops. The exercise was conducted in a simulated environment into which the combat formations of both friendly and enemy forces were laid out. Needless to say, when seeking to simulate the actions of millions of personnel and vehicles in a computer generated environment a degree of difficulty is likely to be encountered and so one of the tasks of this Germany based contingent was to seek to ensure that the issues that arose had as little effect on the deployed CPs as possible.