How British Army soldiers are reshaping the battlefield with Artificial Intelligence and drones.

British army soldiers from 3 SCOTS (The Royal Regiment of Scotland) are deploying advanced artificial intelligence and drone systems during Exercise Tarassis 2025 in Latvia. The trials mark a defining step in the UK’s Future Soldier modernization program and strengthen NATO’s defense readiness along its eastern flank.

London, UK, October 17, 2025 - British Army soldiers are accelerating the integration of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems during Exercise Tarassis 2025, a multinational field operation in Latvia designed to test future warfare concepts in real time. Operating under 11 Brigade Headquarters, the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is leading trials of AI-assisted reconnaissance tools and uncrewed aerial systems, bringing next-generation digital warfare technologies out of the research phase and into live allied operations. Defense officials say the deployment underscores Britain’s commitment to NATO’s evolving strategy for high-tech deterrence across Europe.
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The Black Watch, 3rd Bn The Royal Regiment of Scotland, is demonstrating their capabilities as an infantry battalion of the British Army; here, a Viking unmanned resupply vehicle is being used.  (Picture source: UK MoD)

Exercise Tarassis 2025, which began in early September and is set to continue until the end of October 2025, is the largest exercise ever conducted by the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). Designed to simulate a multidomain response to an emerging crisis in Northern Europe, it tests rapid interoperability, mobility, and combat readiness across a coalition of Northern European nations. Within this framework, 3 SCOTS participated in Exercise Forest Guardian, a ground-centric component that evaluated how British infantry units can adapt to and exploit emerging technologies under battlefield conditions. The deployment also marked the first operational milestone in the transformation of 11 Brigade under the British Army’s Future Soldier strategy, reinforcing the UK's commitment to NATO and the JEF’s rapid-response framework.

Soldiers were pushed beyond conventional maneuver warfare, transitioning into agile, tech-enabled formations capable of fighting in the "near surface" – the zone where physical terrain intersects with digital, aerial, and electromagnetic domains. The objective was clear: not only to maneuver faster, but to dominate the information environment and compress the decision-action cycle through automation, real-time intelligence, and networked operations.

To enable this transformation, two leading defense industry partners embedded technical specialists directly within the battlegroup. These teams delivered live instruction on the operational deployment of several advanced systems, including Cobalt, ARX, Viking, DSA, Menace-T, and Ghost X. These platforms were not conceptual demonstrations or trial units confined to test ranges, but integrated into the exercise as active warfighting tools across reconnaissance, logistics, targeting, and battlefield communication roles.

The Ghost X tactical drone, developed by U.S.-based Anduril Industries, played a prominent role. Operating with high autonomy, the system conducted persistent ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) missions, delivering live imagery and target data directly into the battalion’s digital command mesh. Its modular design allowed rapid reconfiguration to meet mission-specific requirements while maintaining aerial endurance and low visual signature – critical for contested environments.

Supporting operations on the ground was the Viking uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV), a British-developed robotic platform designed for autonomous resupply, casualty evacuation, and reconnaissance support. During the exercise, Viking executed logistics runs with minimal operator input, dynamically rerouting around obstacles and threats while maintaining convoy speed. Troops described it as a reliable and intelligent teammate capable of keeping pace with maneuvering units even under stress.

While less technical detail is publicly available on the systems Cobalt, ARX, DSA, and Menace-T, their use was officially confirmed by the British Army in published material. These systems formed part of the broader capability suite introduced during Exercise Tarassis. Cobalt is believed to serve as a sensor-fusion or data-integration engine to accelerate kill chain processing. ARX may represent a modular robotic system supporting surveillance or strike applications. Menace-T appears to function as a mobile tactical node for decentralized command and control with AI decision support, while DSA is understood to be a digital situational awareness tool enhancing unit-level perception in complex terrain.

The inclusion of these technologies in a live, multinational exercise reflects a deliberate shift in British Army procurement and experimentation philosophy – moving from lab testing toward operational validation under real-world conditions. This aligns directly with the UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Drone Strategy, announced earlier in 2025, which pledges 4.5 billion pounds over the next decade to field scalable, modular, and autonomous systems across land, sea, and air.

In parallel, programs such as Project TIQUILA continue to evolve, aiming to equip artillery units and light forces with packable drones capable of performing ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance) missions under contested conditions. TIQUILA is scheduled to reach initial operational capability in 2025 and is intended to integrate seamlessly into the British Army’s evolving sensor-to-shooter framework.

Exercise Tarassis 2025 is more than a large-scale maneuver rehearsal. It is a strategic benchmark for the UK’s commitment to fielding a data-driven, AI-assisted, and modular combat force that can fight and adapt in complex threat environments. From high-autonomy drone sorties to autonomous ground logistics, from soldier-system teaming to AI-supported decision loops, 3 SCOTS operated on the leading edge of the Army’s transformation efforts.

Lessons from Latvia will now flow into capability development roadmaps, tactical doctrine updates, and future procurement cycles. They will also inform how AI, robotics, and soldier-led innovation are incorporated into brigade-level formations preparing for peer and near-peer competition.

What is clear is that the British Army is no longer viewing emerging technologies as supplementary enhancements. They are becoming core components of the modern battlefield. And in Tarassis 2025, British troops have demonstrated that they are not only capable of operating these technologies, but of leveraging them to create operational overmatch.