Armour gets the short end of the straw – again
It really didn’t matter that 3RAR is still to receive its ‘Redback’ mechanised infantry fighting vehicles (MICVs), 3 (Armoured) Brigade had a very small role in Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. So much so that the involvement of obsolescent M113A4 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) aroused no attention.
The fact that 3 Brigade was missing a tank squadron, a cavalry squadron, and a battlegroup headquarters was also unremarkable. With 1st Armoured Regiment having been stripped of its tanks and removed from operational duties, it was left to 2nd Cavalry Regiment to provide armoured support for 3RAR’s Battlegroup Kapyong.
Of course, 2 Cav Regt is a dual-role unit, divided between two squadrons of tanks and two of combat reconnaissance vehicles. As the RAAC Representative Honorary Colonel explained: “the experience of the Armoured Cavalry Regiments (ACRs), shows us that amalgamation of armoured capabilities produces sub-optimal outcomes”.
If the advance publicity in the Townsville media is anything to go by, Talisman Sabre 2025 must have been a disappointment:
“Townsville army prepares for biggest training year since WWII: In addition to the expanded multinational training efforts, the 3rd Brigade, headquartered in Townsville, will lead the charge in the modernisation of the Australian Army. The brigade is set to receive the first deliveries of cutting-edge equipment as part of the Defence Capability Program, signalling a new era of technological advancement and operational readiness.”
Offsetting this, the Combat Experimentation Group (CXG), aka 1st Armoured Regiment, contributed to Army’s technological advancement: “During Exercise Talisman Sabre, B Squadron from 1 Armd Regt travelled from Adelaide to Townsville to test the modular robotic vehicle (MRV) with remote weapon stations, and first-person-view drones (FPVD), for the first time in a combat field environment”.
Surprisingly, another Army unit was working in the same space on Talisman Sabre … the Australian Army’s tactical experimentation and training unit: The Battle Laboratory (or Battle Lab). The unit’s website explains:
Nested within Headquarters Forces Command, Battle Lab’s role is simple: analyse, assess and experiment across the entire spectrum of military tactics, techniques, equipment and of course, training.
According to Battle Lab’s Commanding Officer, Colonel Peter Allen, the work undertaken by his team ensures that when one unit learns, all of the Australian Army knows about it.
Battle Lab’s Captain Manning Field’s focus on Talisman Sabre 25 was the employment of compact unmanned aerial systems (UAS) by reconnaissance elements such as 2/14th Light Horse Regiment.
“We went into a hide with 2/14th and we were observing how they are employing a 1st Armoured reconnaissance asset. This is all about how our soldiers are utilising new and emerging UAS technologies,” Captain Manning said.
“The information gathered in the field feeds directly back to a newly formed branch of Battle Laboratory, known as the Tactics Development Lab, which will see Army-wide TTPs (tactics, techniques and procedures) distributed to broader Army via the Land Domain Training System (LDTS).”
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Cameron, MC, RAAC (Ret’d)
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CAPTION: Captain Manning Field (right) from Battle Lab talks with Captain Thomas James from the 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (QMI) during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. Photo by Sergeant Dustin Anderson.
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