If Britain was under attack would you know what to do and where to go?

Experts worry British society is less engaged in homeland defence than during the Second World War and the Cold War, but this could be about to change with Exercise Albiston Shadow, due to take place in 2027.

Details are strictly classified, but we do know it will test Britain against a hybrid scenario – that's something like state-sponsored sabotage, arson or even drone activity.

Ed Arnold is a former soldier and now Advisory Director at the D Group, he says he's glad the Government is running this exercise, but worries it's too late, saying: "[Keeping] in mind what we're seeing in terms of an increase in hybrid activity and Russian aggression across Europe."

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He added: "The UK may actually be required to respond to a hybrid event before they go on to the exercise."

And that's something he's experienced in the Army.

Back in 2014, he was stationed at Nato headquarters when Russia invaded Crimea, Moscow's first attempt to seize Ukrainian territory.

He said: "We were running a parallel exercise alongside what was happening in Ukraine.

"And after about three weeks, my boss said, 'Scrap the exercise' that we had been working on for two years because we've got to run with what is in front of us.

"So actually, I think there's a risk at the moment that this also could be too late."

And the UK is certainly being hit hard in the so-called grey zone with Russian warships in the English Channel, suspect drones flying over RAF bases and arson attacks and firebombing on former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s home and property and UK warehouses storing military kit for Ukraine.

And, Ed Arnold stresses, the response to a hybrid attack needs to be agile.

He said: "The problem is that if we go into a hybrid scenario that very quickly actually moves more into something more like war on the European continent, then the military part of whatever we might exercise or expect to be there, if that's not there, then actually you have to put a lot more pressure on the emergency services."

BFBS Forces News understands Albiston Shadow will test the link through to military response, but there are no firm details of what that will involve.

Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the UK's National Preparedness Commission, welcomes the announcement of Albiston Shadow but says the government needs to be clear about what the general public should do in the event of an attack.

He said: "It shouldn't come as a shock if they are asking people to do things that are not usual for them, or to take difficult measures.

"The only way that popular consent is going to happen is if the public are aware of the scale of the threats we face.

"And that means taking the public with you, which means talking to them sensibly, a mature conversation about what could happen and what is the individual's role under those circumstances."

And, as grey zone expert Elisabeth Braw points out, as well as preparing the public, exercises like Albiston Shadow serve another purpose.

She said: "If we as the UK can demonstrate to the Russians and anybody else with hostile intentions that we are able to keep functioning as a country in case of some sort of major disruption or disturbance, that is a very powerful deterrent signal to send."