What V Corps units are facilitating Transforming in Contact 1.0 and 2.0 efforts?
3rd Light Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
Currently deployed to eastern Europe in support of efforts to deter aggression and assure NATO Allies and regional partners, 3rd Light Brigade Combat Team (LBCT), 10th Mountain Division, has received several new technologies as part of TiC 1.0. Not only has 3-10 LBCT tested these technologies in a deployed environment, but they will execute a combat training center rotation during Exercise Combined Resolve at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, in late January.
Technology being tested:
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Medium Range Reconnaissance (MRR): Loiter Unmanned Aerial Systems Platoons with 3-10 LBCT will employ the GhostX MRR for the first time for a full force-on-force simulation during Combined Resolve. The GhostX allows platoons to call in more accurate indirect fire while providing battalion commanders with more information to prioritize targets.
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Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISV): Employed by 3-10 LBCT’s Unmanned Aerial System platoons and infantry squads, the ISV is designed for quick movement in any environment. Soldiers with 3-10 LBCT have tested the ISV in Slovakia, Poland, Estonia and Germany.
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Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (S-MET): The S-MET is a robotic ground transportation vehicle that 3-10 LBCT has employed as a supply vehicle throughout Eastern Europe and will now employ as a squad-level tactical asset for the first time during Combined Resolve. Bearing some of the load of the tactical Soldier, the S-MET increases the agility of infantry squads while sustaining them in the field for longer periods
2d Cavalry Regiment
Gen. Darryl Williams, former commanding general of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, identified 2CR as a possible TiC 2.0 unit during AUSA 2024. While an exact start date for 2CR's TiC 2.0 equipment fielding and structural changes are not yet formally decided, V Corps may oversee certain transformation updates as soon as Spring 2025.
As V Corps' assigned Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2CR has already been at the forefront of testing new technologies for the Army prior to the CSA's Transforming in Contact announcement. At exercises such as Saber Strike and Brave Partner, 2CR has provided critical input back to the Army about how to rapidly employ low cost solutions to today's battlefield problem sets.
Informed by their training in the European theater, 2CR leaders will assess the following TiC 2.0 capabilities fill emerging gaps in the operational environment:
- EW capabilities: Soldiers with 2CR may test new EW equipment over the next two years during Exercise Saber Junction 25 and Exercise Saber Strike 26. Advanced, mobile EW capabilities would allow 2CR to sense, understand and counter enemy EW activities at the tactical level, allowing V Corps’ assigned Stryker Brigade Combat Team to communicate, navigate and maneuver on the battlefield if deterrence were to fail.
- Mobile C-sUAS: The European theater provides a realistic and relevant training environment for 2CR to test new technology designed to counter the significant threat sUAS would pose to U.S. Soldiers during conflict with a near-pear adversary. The lightweight and portable C-sUAS devices are designed to detect, mitigate, and defeat enemy UAS to protect maneuver forces, bases, and key infrastructure.
- Short Range Reconnaissance s-UAS: As V Corps’ organic maneuver force, 2CR would employ sUAS during small unit operations and may test the capability during exercises Saber Junction 25 and Saber Strike 26. With sUAS being a low cost, portable and real time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability, the systems would serve as a key enabler during simulated and real-world close combat.
1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division
The 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division will execute its transfer of authority in the first quarter of 2025. The unit has already demonstrated support to Army transformation efforts during a recent rotation to the National Training Center. As a tentative TiC 2.0-identified ABCT, V Corps and U.S. Army Europe and Africa will see the "Raider Brigade" execute a first-ever TiC rotation at JMRC during Combined Resolve 25-02.
During this rotation, JMRC and the Army will gain invaluable feedback from 1ABCT, 3ID concerning how an armored formation can execute TiC fieldings and structure changes in a deployed setting.
Transforming in Contact in Europe
Only in Europe and while deployed under the command and control of V Corps can TiC-identified units test these technologies, organizational structure changes, and fielding procedures with access to a vast array of training areas spanning multiple NATO nations and regional partners.