Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to help improve the ability of the Army to fight effectively in urban environments.

The Army has various interventions in place to assist them in adapting to fight in an urban environment. For several years now, the Army has been conducting the Army Warfighting Experiment (AWE) on an annual basis, which is an established series of exercises and wargames, focussing specifically on operating in the urban environment.

In April 2022, the Army is introducing the Experimentation and Trials Group (ETG) which will comprise of a headquarters, a next generation combat team and five trials and development units. Informed by a comprehensive training needs analysis, the ETG will include an urban centre of excellence with a small team dedicated to urban warfare trials and experiments.

The Army also utilises a Unit Based Virtual Trainer (UBVT) which is able to recreate complex urban environments, including the infrastructure mentioned within your question. The software is built around commercial gaming software and replicates, in detail, all of the Army's platforms and weapons.