Britain holds largest army exercise in Europe for decade

The British Army have deployed nearly 3,500 troops and up to 800 vehicles to Europe for their largest combat exercise on the continent for over a decade.

Exercise Cerberus 22, a large-scale command post exercise, is taking place in Germany and is aimed at confirming that the five British Army brigade headquarters that sit within the division are ready for operations.

It sees the exercise, previously held in the UK on Salisbury Plain Training Area, move to its new central European location to test its ability move personnel and equipment on a large scale and to operate in an expeditionary setting rather than being close to home.

The British Army say here that the Brigades are being tested in a realistic scenario against a peer adversary with the divisional headquarters in overall command. Above them, the British-led NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) will provide overall NATO command and control over the exercise, “emphasising the importance of the NATO alliance and demonstrating the true scale of the deployment”.

Colonel Owain Luke, Chief of Staff, Headquarters 3rd United Kingdom Division (3 (UK) Div) who are running the exercise, was quoted as saying:

“We have deployed here to Germany to use the Land Regional Hub at Sennelager, which has also acted as a real test of our ability to deploy forces to the continent at speed.” 

The Army added that 3 (UK) Div is the United Kingdom’s fighting Division and, as such, “can bring to bear the considerable firepower and concentrate the force”.

This includes reconnaissance, armoured cavalry; armoured and mechanised infantry, aviation, artillery, engineers, and logistics; in what the Army called “the full spectrum” of capability.

“In addition to British brigades on the exercise,” says Colonel Luke, “we are also joined by the 3rd Brigade Combat Team from the American 1st Cavalry Division. This exercise is also about building our interoperability with U.S. Forces as well as aligning with NATO procedures and working under Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.”

Colonel Luke adds:

“The main objective of Cerberus 22 is to test, validate and support readiness of the five brigade headquarters: 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, 12 Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team, 101 Operational Sustainment Brigade, and 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team. Each headquarters will be assessed as being ready for operations by testing their ability to plan and execute operations within a simulated warfighting scenario set in Europe.”

Some of the equipment being used is already based in Germany which allows us to provide a more rapid response, further highlighting the importance of Sennelager and surrounding hubs.

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