Next UK ASGARD iteration test due to take place in Q2 2026
While the UK steps closer to fielding ASGARD, a new targeting technology, after the government announced that the prototype software was demonstrated in Estonia in recent months, it also emerged that the capability will be tested at the corps level of operations in the second quarter of 2026.
The UK Minister for Defence Procurement and Industry made reference to the next developmental step in a parliamentary written response on 23 July 2025, days after the government showcased the capability to global allies and industry partners in London earlier this week.
ASGARD will form part of what the Ministry of Defence calls its Digital Targeting Web (DTW) which will be up and running by 2027 at the cost of £1bn ($1.35bn) investment. It will coordinate all nodes – sensors, deciders, and effectors – into a cohesive network of assets.
This digital system augments the British Army’s Recce-Strike approach; a concept that combines intelligence-gathering and subsequent precision strike effects. The Army imitates Ukraine’s operational model used against invading Russian forces.
In doing so, ASGARD will help soldiers find and attack enemy targets from greater distances while the decision-making element is sped up by artificial intelligence.
“What took hours now takes minutes,” remarked General Roly Walker, Chief of the General Staff.
On 17 June, during the Land Warfare Conference, hosted by the Royal United Services Institute, Walker claimed that the capability has made 4 Brigade, the Army’s enhanced forward presence unit in Estonia, capable of acting “ten times faster and ten times further than it could last year”.
Corps level test plans
Project ASGARD emerged out of top-level discussions in July 2024, was announced in October that year, after which the government contracted industry partners in January 2025, and exercised the concept in May, proving the concept as a minimum viable product.
In the next step, sometime between April and June 2026, the Army will refine the use of ASGRAD at the largest Army formation, comprising between 20,000 and 45,000 personnel.
Looking beyond this next test, it would be particularly useful to demonstrate ASGARD in a large-scale Nato exercise practising command and control in the joint force at the operational level, a scenario that the UK Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, proposed during a recent conference.
Secret Cloud: another next step
It must not be forgotten, however, that the cost of a vast DTW is £1bn (at least initally) for a reason. It is an all-encompassing concept that overlaps with numerous initiatives as foundation for all future British military operations.
It covers all domains, including space and cyber, and numerous emerging technologies.
The Strategic Defence Review also briefly touches on the need for a secret cloud platform in which to dump intelligence. While the DTW architecture is anticipated to be fielded by 2027, a vast cloud platform is expected to reach minimum viable product by next year.
