Cyber experts will be deployed on the battlefield alongside the regular Armed Forces as part of a major modernisation of the British military to prepare for drone warfare, The i Paper can reveal.
A new “digital warfighting group” with skills in hacking and cyber operations will work alongside infantry soldiers to scramble enemy drone signals, take down drone “swarms” and launch counter-attacks, if the UK is engaged in another war.
The plans, to be unveiled in the long-awaited Strategic Defence Review (SDR) on Monday, mark a new era for military capabilities and are in response to the war in Ukraine, where more soldiers have been killed by drones than traditional weapons and artillery.
Figures revealed by Western officials earlier this year showed that 80 per cent of battlefield casualties in Ukraine were due to drones, often deployed at short range.
The new digital warfighting unit will consist of personnel with basic military training but they will not be traditional soldiers, and will be employed instead for their cyber expertise.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to fast-track recruitment of cyber experts to create the unit ready for the front line if Britain ever goes to war again.
The plans, which are being recommended by the SDR but have been endorsed by the Government, are part of enabling the British military to “adapt to a new style of warfare”, a Whitehall source said.
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