British Army's Asgard C2 and targeting network revealed

A British soldier using a UAS during Exercise ‘Hedgehog' 2025, in Estonia, where elements of the Asgard targeting network were tested. (MoD/Crown Copyright)

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) unveiled a newly upgraded, artificial intelligence (AI)-fuelled, digital targeting network called Asgard in a 16 July presentation to the media.

Project Asgard follows an accelerated sense-identify-weapon-decide-effect sequence. This means “any sensor”, according to British Army representatives, whether it be an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), radar, or human eye, is enabled by AI to identify and prioritise targets and then suggest weapons for destroying them. “Before Asgard it might take hours or even days. Now it takes seconds or minutes to complete the digital targeting chain,” a senior British Army officer involved with the project said during the presentation. When asked by Janes which platforms have already been connected using the network, a British Army representative said, “the challenge is any platform, any sensor, any nation”. In May both French and Estonian forces used the Asgard targeting network during NATO's Exercise ‘Hedgehog' focused on defensive multidomain operations (MDOs) in Estonia, according to the officer.

During the exercise, more than 3,000 British soldiers and thousands of personnel from 12 other NATO countries, tested the ability of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) and Estonian Defence League (voluntary national defence organisation) to respond to a hypothetical attack by Russia. Project Asgard increased situational awareness and its AI component allowed for faster data processing during the trials, Major General Indrek Sirel, commander of the EDF's Estonian Division, said in a testimonial video shown during the presentation.