Newsletter - October 2024

Joint Expeditionary Force deploy to Latvia

Exercise JOINT PROTECTOR will take place over the coming weeks, it will see over 300 personnel from the UK and all 10 Joint Expeditionary Force - JEF Participant Nations deploy to Latvia, supported by Strategic Command's UK Standing Joint Force HQ which is the JEF's Operational HQ.

The exercise will be a near-real scenario in which malign regional actors cause instability in the Northern European region, creating strategic dilemmas to overcome, driving situational awareness and challenging them, practicing how we deploy and disperse to execute military responses.

Commander Strategic Command visit to Australia

General Jim Hockenhull visited our allies in Australia to emphasise and demonstrate the UK’s continued commitment to the region and to AUKUS.

Meeting with senior Australian defence and government officials, as well as experts from industry and academia, discussions included; how we defend against borderless threats in the cyber domain, sharing best practice on the vital digital connectivity and data analysis that underpins everything we do, and development of advanced capabilities within AUKUS Pillar 2.

Read more about his visit here.

Strengthening Defence through wargaming

The partnership between the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Strategic Command continues to grow. The signing of a partnership charter marked a significant step forward; the Defence Wargaming Centre (DWC) and Defence Experimentation and Wargaming Hub (DEWH) will operate seamlessly, aligning their goals and enhancing the overall wargaming capacity of the MOD.

Both organisations are committed to advancing analytical capabilities and fostering collaboration.

Find out more about the signing here.

Exercise reaffirms UK's commitment to the Five Power Defence Arrangements

Rear Admiral Andrew Betton, Director of the Integrated Warfare Centre, attended the opening ceremony of Exercise BERSAMA LIMA 24 in Singapore, reaffirming the UK's commitment to the Five Power Defence Arrangements.

Ex BERSAMA LIMA allows us to train with our Five Power Defence Arrangements partners, enhancing interoperability and strengthening our collective response to security challenges. The UK's participation this year includes HMS Spey, 148 Battery Royal Artillery, and members of the Royal Gurkha Rifles.

Read more about the exercise here.

UK reinforce cyber partnership with Singapore

We were pleased to recently welcome Brigadier Edward Chen, Singapore’s Defence Cyber Chief at The Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS), to the UK, strengthening our cyber partnership ahead of our attendance at the Singapore International Cyber Week. He participated in the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Cyber Power Workshop and engaged with key cyber stakeholders from across the UK.

This visit underscored the deepening relationship between the UK and Singapore in the cyber domain, building on the UK-Singapore Strategic Partnership signed last September. The visit fostered productive discussions on crucial topics like cryptography, defensive cyber capabilities, AI, and international cyber structures.

Read more about the visit here.

STEM and Digital Bursary programme continued success

After a successful kick off in Lancashire earlier this year, the Strategic Command STEM and Digital Skills Bursary programme has continued to progress and is proving to be a success.

For the first term of the project, Strategic Command’s Digital Skills for Defence team and the Lancashire Skills and Education Hub, together with the partner colleges, have organised hands-on activities for the students to help hone their skills and form important partnerships.

All students have also received high-spec laptops, allowing them to participate in digital education and training.

Find out more about the bursary here.

PJHQ deploy British Army forces to integrate with Albania

Exercise AUSTERE WOLF is a UK led exercise which sees our Permanent Joint Headquarters deploy British Army forces to integrate with Albanian allies; developing operational skills that help us and our NATO allies and partners work together more smoothly.

From maritime logistics, to the use of Foxhound vehicles, and amphibious landings, this training proved our ability to reinforce NATO’s commitment to regional security. Training is ongoing in this region to bolster our joint readiness.

C4ISR - the backbone of Defence

This year’s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) C4ISR Conference in London included presentations from senior leaders at Strategic Command, who highlighted the growing importance of integrating our command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) in modern defence.

C4ISR forms the backbone of defence, enabling the critical data fabric, sensors, decision-making, exploitation and targeting tools needed to out-think and out-fight adversaries. Understanding which capabilities must remain sovereign and which can be co-developed with allies is key to building resilience and readiness.

Find out more about the Conference here.

Poppy Appeal Launch

On 24 October the 2024 Poppy Appeal launched, with further events taking place over the coming weeks leading up to Remembrance.

London Poppy Day saw personnel from Strategic Command sell poppies in Green Park Station, as well as the Ritz and Fortnum & Mason. Thousands of pounds worth of donations were collected.

Wear a poppy to show your support for the UK Armed Forces, past and present.

See more pictures from the day here.

Cyber Security Awareness month

Cyber Security Awareness Month ran throughout October, and this year had a focus on staying protected from online dangers.

Part of Strategic Command, Defence Digital puts robust cybersecurity measures in place to safeguard our infrastructure and protect our nation from ever-evolving online threats, blocking 6.7 million firewall requests per day.

While our Cyber Confident team, who are part of Defence Digital, break down the complex world of cyber security into fun, understandable and bitesize pieces to help our people stay as cyber secure as possible.

Find out more about our top tips for staying safe online and avoiding phishing.

Strategic Command sharpens Defence’s edge to protect the nation and help it prosper.

We are the capabilities you don’t usually see. Or those you can’t.

We are always ready to respond, anywhere at anytime.

We are learning and adapting to make Defence more lethal and more integrated.