A secret Nato war game held in a disused London Underground station has revealed that the British army is 80-90% short of the drones it needs for a full-scale conflict. The exercise, codenamed Arrcade Strike, took place in a former Jubilee line terminus beneath Charing Cross station, simulating the defence of Estonia against a Russian invasion in 2030.
Lt Gen Mike Elviss, commander of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, said the scenario was set in 2030 because that is when the threat from Russia is expected to be most acute. The war game aimed to demonstrate Nato's readiness to defend its Baltic members, but also to pressure the UK government into increasing defence spending on drones.
According to military estimates, the British army would run out of drones in less than a week in a full-scale war, launching only a few hundred a day. The shortfall is estimated at 80-90% for reconnaissance, air defence and attack drones. The Ministry of Defence has been locked in a funding battle with the Treasury, with costs estimated at £50m a year for simple one-way attack drones and £500m a year for more sophisticated models.
The exercise showcased the British army's Project Asgard, a digital communication system using artificial intelligence to speed up decision-making from 72 hours to two hours. The war game included a new deep strike unit capable of hitting targets 90 miles away with M270 artillery. The command centre, which can house 500 people and transmit 10 terabytes of data a day, was equipped with virtual reality headsets from US firm Anduril, in which US Vice-President JD Vance is an investor.
The operation envisioned using thousands of drones to lead a counterattack against Russian forces, revealing and eliminating enemy positions with the help of fighter jets and artillery. The rehearsals were conducted deliberately, as Elviss noted, because the adversary is watching.
