UK’s Project ASGARD plots next steps following live trials in Estonia

The British Army has been given the go-ahead to proceed with a second phase of Project ASGARD, a state-of-the-art command and control concept designed to enable more rapid, precision strike operations across the modern battlespace.

Defense officials expect a request for information to be published in the last week of July, followed by a second capability exercise to be conducted in Estonia in March or April of next year. A first exercise was quietly carried out in Estonia in May.

“The Ministry of Defence is committing funding for the next phase of ASGARD’s development. This will allow the Army to expedite its lethality and deepen its links with society through partnership with British industry, delivering on the Government’s Plan for Change by keeping the UK secure at home and strong abroad,” an official statement, released July 20, declared.

Combining digital networks, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), intelligence assets and firepower, ASGARD aims to “find and strike enemy forces at greater distances than ever before,” integrating artillery, long‑range missiles, aircraft, and single‑use uncrewed aerial systems via a digital targeting web.

ASGARD, first announced by the MoD in October 2024, forms part of the British Army’s move to double lethality by 2027, triple it by 2030, and ultimately deliver a “tenfold increase in lethality” over the next decade, in line with sentiments shared by Chief of the General Staff, Gen. Sir Roly Walker.

“ASGARD helps double our lethality and exponentially reduces the time to see, decide, and strike,” Walker said in a statement. “What took hours, now takes minutes. Today, the UK possesses a similar Recce-Strike system to the one used by Ukraine to maul Russian forces in the Donbas. That system now sits at the heart of our Forward Land Forces in Estonia.”

Ahead of the formal announcement, the service arranged a June 16 showcase for media and defense leadership in London, which included 17 participating industry partners.

At the showcase event, visitors were briefed on Exercise Hedgehog — the May demonstration that also included French and Estonian troops — which saw a baseline version of ASGARD deployed, underpinned by various communications solutions including General Dynamics’ Bowman radios, Trellisware Technologies’ TSM mobile ad hoc networking (MANET) waveform and Anduril’s Lattice open software platform.

Other industry partners included Esri, Rowden, Mind Foundry, Roke, CGI, Oxford Dynamics, Intellium AI, Faculty, Nexor, Helsing, Zodiac, IBM, Research Innovations, Reply Shield, Oracle and Sensus Q.

A total of 850 soldiers were connected to the digital targeting web by Samsung smartphones, also benefiting from voice and data interoperability with multinational partners who caught a glimpse of ASGARD’s capability.

Although limited in terms of assets employed during the demonstration, Exercise Hedgehog did feature Parrot’s Anafi quadcopter for target acquisition as well as Modini’s Dart 250 loitering munition.

“I was really impressed with the speed of the delivery of the concept, because literally a year ago [this] was just ideas,” said Estonian division commander Maj. Gen. Indrek Sirel in a video address to the July 16 event. “I saw how eager soldiers were to learn the new equipment and how much the introduction of the elements of the project ASGARD already have improved the performance of the Brigade and contributed to the division being more efficient and more lethal.”

‘Tripwire’ To ‘Asset’

Defense sources associated with ASGARD provided Breaking Defense with the “art of the possible” of the concept in the future, describing how it will autonomously detect and identify targets in depth, select the most appropriate weapon system, and deliver effects.

Sources portrayed a front line of unattended ground sensors and a forward deployed special operations team behind enemy lines sharing intelligence and targeting data in near real-time with ASGARD’s digital targeting web.

Effectors, such as AH-64 attack helicopters, F-35 jets, remote carriers, loitering munitions and other long range precision fires, could then be autonomously cued by ASGARD to prosecute targets upon final confirmation by commanders “on-the-loop.” Connectivity will be further optimized by a mix of mesh networks, LEO/GEO satellite communications and other radio frequency bands.

However, sources also acknowledged the “two-way” nature of the modern battlespace where a peer adversary retains capability to fight back.

“Enemy forces can obviously take out these sensors and effects, but the theory is there will be so many, they won’t be able to stop all of them,” one Army source said.

Sources also suggested effects could include the MoD’s Dragonfire high energy laser as well as the deployment of swarms of drones equipped with kinetic and non-kinetic effects. One source also said the army is already trialing “throwing” FPV drones out of helicopters.

Speaking at the event, British Army Chief Technology Officer David Williams suggested ASGARD had upgraded British troops based in Estonia from being a “strategic tripwire” to a “strategic asset” when it comes to deterring and potentially engaging with Russian forces.

“We need to think how to fight differently,” he urged before confirming the second demonstration exercise will incorporate more AI algorithms.

Maj. Gen. Alex Turner, the UK’s director of Army Futures, said deployment of “non-traditional” effects on the modern battlespace accounts for 80 percent of battlefield damage in Ukraine. Specifically, Turner illustrated lower cost, dual use technologies including first person view attack drones which could be used as part of Project ASGARD.

“We need to exploit technology including drones and robotics and the [enabling] technologies wrapped around them,” he said.

Besides delivering operational effects at the tactical edge, ASGARD is also being used to support rapid design, development and fielding of emerging technologies, in partnership with the MoD’s new Task Force Rapstone.

Established at the end of 2024, Rapstone is tasked with providing “capability insights, partnerships and delivering technology at pace with cheap and consumable technologies in the short term with emphasis on delivery,” according to an MoD official.

“For this reason, the army is leaning into ‘mission partnering’, using specific original equipment manufacturers to support specific mission and use case requirements across the service,” the official said. “In 12 months, every formation in the army will be working with mission partners to overcome problems.”

The army is also studying “factory-to-foxhole” supply chains to support the stockpiling and delivery of “thousands of effects” in a wartime scenario.