The Invisible War of Her Majesty's Paratroopers

To survive on the modern battlefield, the British paratroopers are learning to fight an invisible war as well: the one that takes place in the electromagnetic spectrum, among radio waves, signals, and interferences.

Leading this transformation is the Phantom Platoon, a unit specialized in Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) of the 16 Air Assault Brigade, the global rapid response force of the British Army. CEMA combines electronic warfare, cyber operations, and electromagnetic spectrum management with the aim of gathering intelligence on the enemy, disrupting their plans, and protecting friendly forces.

The unit, part of the 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), participated in Exercise Orion in France, where British and French airborne soldiers trained together to face potential real crises. According to the commander of 2 PARA, Lieutenant Colonel Craig Shephard, CEMA serves to understand what the enemy is doing and to create confusion about the intentions of one's own forces, thus gaining that small advantage in time or space crucial to winning the battle.

Technology Built in the Field

One of the main tasks of the Phantom Platoon specialists is to locate enemy positions by intercepting and tracking their radio transmissions. To do this, they use Kraken, a software defined radio designed and assembled directly by the unit.

The system consists of an antenna capable of detecting signals, connected to a GPS and managed via a single-board computer. It can be assembled or disassembled in just five minutes, placed on the ground, and remotely controlled. Once a signal is detected, the device allows determining what it is, where it is located, and what role it plays in the enemy's activity, contributing to building a more precise operational picture.

Alongside Kraken, the paratroopers have also created Unagi, a transmitter capable of jamming radio communications or emitting false signals, and Plankton, a Wi-Fi extender used to disrupt the connection between a drone and its controller. The names, curiously, derive from the fact that one of the team members has a degree in marine biology, and for this reason, many devices have “fishy” names.

The peculiarity of these tools is that they are built with components purchased in regular electronics stores and then modified with a few lines of code, making them extremely flexible. In a concrete case, Unagi was first used to jam enemy radios and then reconfigured to mimic a Wi-Fi hub. The enemy intercepted the signal, believing they had located the British headquarters, and attacked a false position. This deception allowed a rifle company to achieve its objective without encountering resistance.

Innovation, Initiative, and International Cooperation

For the soldiers of the Phantom Platoon, this capability represents a concrete example of the traditional airborne initiative, that is, the spirit of initiative typical of paratrooper troops. Soldier Kai explained that in contemporary conflicts, electronic warfare is taking on an increasingly central role, and for this reason, the unit has decided to independently develop a capability considered essential today.

On a personal level, CEMA also offers new opportunities. Soldier George, for example, turned a youthful passion for PlayStation, Xbox, and electronics into a concrete military skill. After starting to dismantle and modify hardware as a boy, he found in the Phantom Platoon a way to apply those skills in the operational field, with the awareness that his contribution can directly influence the success of a mission.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Craig Shephard, the work of the Phantom Platoon demonstrates the willingness of British paratroopers to innovate and adapt to the needs of the modern battlefield. A valuable resource, especially in exercises like Orion, which involved about 2,000 soldiers from the 16 Air Assault Brigade and the French 11e Brigade Parachutiste in joint defensive activities.

The two brigades form the Airborne Combined Joint Force and since 2013 have been trained and ready to deploy together to respond to global crises. In a war context where it is no longer enough to control the ground, but it is also necessary to dominate the invisible space of signals, communications, and interferences, the Phantom Platoon shows how the future of combat increasingly passes through technology and adaptability.