British gunners are putting the vast, open plains of Canada to good use, testing a powerful new radar system that can detect threats, track the battlefield, and guide artillery straight onto their targets.
Soldiers from 53 Air Assault Battery, part of 5th Regiment Royal Artillery, are trialling the new Ground Based Surveillance Radar, known as GBSR, as one part of a wider network of sophisticated sensors designed to help British forces win the fight, all as part of Exercise Rhino Bizz.
A New Tool for a New Era of Warfare
The first GBSR systems arrived at the Catterick-based unit in late 2025, and they are already proving their worth. The system tracks the location and movement of soldiers and vehicles on the ground, as well as aircraft and drones overhead. It can also assist with fall of shot correction, working hand in hand with artillery and mortars to track precisely where rounds are landing, correct their aim, and destroy the target faster.
Lance Bombardier Devon Neal, of 5th Regiment Royal Artillery, praised the system’s practicality, saying it is lightweight and quick to deploy, which allows crews to move it rapidly to wherever it is needed most.
Lightweight, Mobile, and Built for the Battlefield
GBSR is designed to complement 53 Battery’s main radar system, the heavier and more powerful Lightweight Multimode Radar, or LMR. Unlike its larger counterpart, GBSR can be carried by troops on foot, giving commanders the flexibility to provide localised coverage for specific missions, or to fill gaps left by LMR.
Staff Sergeant Dan Graham explained that the wide, flat terrain of British Army Training Unit Suffield, in Canada, has given soldiers an almost ideal testing ground. With no trees, no buildings, and few obstructions, the radar is producing a clean, pure return, giving the regiment a reliable baseline to build on before testing the system in more demanding, complex conditions.
Lance Bombardier Neal, who serves as second-in-command of a GBSR detachment on the ground, said the system’s speed and portability make a real difference in the field, adding that having another sensor to understand the battlefield significantly improves both lethality and survivability.
Part of a Wider, Networked Fighting Force
Exercise Rhino Bizz has brought together 16 Air Assault Brigade and Canadian soldiers, uniting them to demonstrate how they would “fight tonight” on a battlefield increasingly shaped by drones and electronic warfare. Troops have been testing the recce-strike concept, a modern approach to combat that fuses surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike platforms into a single, AI-enabled network capable of identifying and destroying targets faster, and at greater range, than ever before.
Staff Sergeant Graham likened the system to a “hive mind,” with multiple sensors working together, each contributing different pieces of information about the enemy. Once one sensor detects something, he explained, all the other sensors can be directed onto that same track, building a clear, complete picture of the target, and what it is doing. With artificial intelligence merging and interpreting the data, that process, once measured in minutes, now takes mere seconds, giving British forces a decisive head start over the enemy.
A Clear Signal of British Military Innovation
As threats evolve and the character of warfare continues to shift, the British Army’s investment in cutting-edge, networked technology like GBSR shows a clear commitment to keeping its soldiers safer, its strikes sharper, and its forces ready for whatever comes next.
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Images: MOD Crown Copyright News / Editorial Licence.
