Explainer: What 20-40-40 means and how it will transform Army's combat effectiveness
The British Army is preparing to overhaul the way it fights wars, aiming to increase its battlefield lethality by a factor of 10 without significantly boosting troop numbers.
Under a new concept known as 20-40-40, the Army will shift away from Cold War-era doctrine in favour of a more tech-driven approach.
The idea is simple: 20% of combat capability will come from traditional platforms like tanks, artillery and attack helicopters, 40% will rely on expendable, largely autonomous systems such as loitering munitions and kamikaze drones, and the remaining 40% will consist of reusable, AI-enabled assets including surveillance drones that can operate with or without human input.
The change is part of the Strategic Defence Review and reflects lessons from recent conflicts, particularly in Ukraine, where autonomous and semi-autonomous systems have had a major impact on the battlefield.
The aim is to build an infantry force that can see further, strike faster, and deliver greater firepower – all with fewer boots on the ground.
That means adopting platforms that allow small units to conduct operations that would have previously required far more personnel and equipment.
Frontline units have already begun adopting some of these technologies. During a recent deployment to Estonia, British soldiers were using both reusable surveillance drones and single-use attack drones, just 35 miles from the Russian border.
To support this shift, the British Army plans to spend at least 10% of its budget on drones and other emerging technologies, referred to in the review as "novel capabilities".
The 20-40-40 concept is not just a tweak to current tactics – it represents a fundamental shift in how the Army intends to wage war, moving towards a force that looks and fights very differently from today.
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