A Battle Laboratory AND a Combat Experimentation Group – why? 

Most of us thought, based on information from the Chief of Defence Force, that 1st Armoured Regiment had been specially selected to be transformed into a Combat Experimentation Group (CXG) which had to be formed because there was simply no other way of accomplishing what had to be done in terms of managing emerging technologies.  In the words of the CDF: “There is a clear need for a unit organised and structured to accelerate transformation through experimentation and the development of new tactics”.

It now appears that this wasn’t the case at all, as: “holding one of the key positions within the Australian Army’s rapid transformation into a contemporary, integrated and adaptive fighting force, is Battle Laboratory, or Battle Lab”.  The commanding Officer, Colonel Peter Allan, CSM (former CO 4th Regiment) was appointed in June 2023; three months before the Defence Strategic Review announcement that 1 Armd Regt would be stripped of its tanks to become a CXG.   

Google explains the relationship between a Battle Lab and a CXG in this way: 

The key difference lies in their function: Battle Labs serve as hubs for innovation, while Combat Experimentation Groups are the entities that perform the actual experimentation and trials. 

[Note: The Google analysis above is provided by Artificial Intelligence (AI).  The result may, or may not, therefore, be a valid assessment.]  

The fundamental question remains … just what is going on?  Who’s pulling the strings, and to what end? 

The Battle Lab website advises: 

“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.

Talisman Sabre 25 is proving to be fertile ground, both with respect to the application of existing Battle Lab products and the opportunity to observe current tactics, techniques and procedures. 

Battle Lab’s Captain Manning Field’s focus on Talisman Sabre 25 is 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 [Regt] reconnaissance asset. This is all about how our soldiers are utilising new and emerging UAS technologies,” Captain Manning said.

But isn’t this also what the CXG is doing? 

First-person-view drones (FPVD), were being tested for the first time in a combat field environment by CXG (which was embedded within the 3rd Brigade’s Battlegroup Kapyong).  

“Officer Commanding [B Sqn, CXG] Major Tom Fisher, said these drones could travel up to 20 kilometres from the operator, reaching speeds of up to 70km/h with the ability to provide a strike function when weaponised with a payload.

Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Cameron, MC, RAAC (Ret’d)

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FILE PHOTO: An Australian Army soldier from 1st Armoured Regiment demonstrates hyper-teaming with uncrewed aerial systems on Project Convergence Capstone 5 at Fort Irwin, California, on 11 March 2025. Photo by Corporal Nakia Chapman.

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