British soldiers overcome opposing force – and bleak terrain of the Mojave Desert

British soldiers have been pitting their skills against their US Army counterparts on exercise in California as they work to enhance their battlefield capabilities using a mix of new technology alongside old.

Infanteers from The Royal Yorkshire Regiment and The Rifles, along with troops from the Royal Artillery, have been taking part in Project Convergence Capstone 2025 (PCC5) at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert.

The aim of the multinational exercise is to test new technologies and help shape the future of military operations, with the focus on the air-to-ground littoral – the low-level airspace increasingly dominated by drones.

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PCC5 is comprised of two scenarios, the first being the exercise at the National Training Centre at Fort Irwin.

During this initial scenario, soldiers from 2 R Yorks and 5 Rifles had to set up an OP (Observation Post) and assault a village.

The OP was set up by members of 2 R Yorks' Recce Platoon, who patrolled upwards into the high ground towards their location.

They were trialling the Ghost Ghillie suit, ghillie suits being an item of clothing offering a high degree of camouflage typically for soldiers moving slowly or in static positions, such as those carrying out a reconnaissance or sniper role.

In addition to getting human "eyes on" over the village, the infanteers also deployed a D40 drone to search for possible enemy locations during the urban assault phase.

This was an opportunity to test and experiment with new technology while assaulting urban environments as well as brushing up on their FIBUA (fighting in built-up areas) training.

Some of the soldiers were extracted to the village by Chinook, and the rest by foot, with their US Army colleagues being the opposing force.

PCC5 also gave the British troops the opportunity to train with advanced weapons such as the man-portable variant of the Starstreak air defence missile, as well as more traditional weapons such as the 81mm mortar.

The second phase of PCC5, which takes place in April along with US Indo-Pacific Command, will test personnel at the command level.