We’re witnessing an evolution in the balance and mix of capabilities required for military advantage. In Ukraine and elsewhere, we see attritable, consumable and software-based capabilities assuming greater prominence. Relatedly, we see accelerating rates of battlefield learning and adaptation, often driven by front-line problem-solving.

These and other factors challenge traditional approaches to capability development, acquisition and fielding – often geared towards large, long-term, expensive and survivable hardware capabilities. While these remain important, new kinds of capability requirements urge alternative approaches: not just greater pace, but tighter defence-industrial feedback loops, more devolution, a greater role for end-users and – for defence leaders – a greater command of the operational, technological and commercial underpinnings of military capability. “I don’t do tech” and “I leave the commercials to others” are increasingly untenable positions. Key takeaways:

• Learn how Taskforce RAPSTONE is developing British Army approaches to capability development that meet these challenges.

• Understand the opportunities that evolving capability requirements present to British industry.

• Hear practical examples of effective “trilingual leadership”, where defence leaders have overcome the seams among technology, commercial and operational functions, and bent them to their will in service of military advantage.