According to foreign media reports, in January 2025, a group of 80 soldiers from a newly formed US Army unit used attack and reconnaissance drones, electronic warfare (EW) equipment, and ATGM, mortars, and snipers to try out a new way to detect and destroy enemy forces.
A new unit of the US Army , called the Multi-Purpose Company (MPC), was created as part of the army's Transformation in Contact (TIC) program. The program aims to speed up the process of equipping soldiers with the equipment and doctrine needed to wage modern wars.
The new American concept is reportedly based on the lessons of the ongoing war in Ukraine. According to a speech in 2024, during the annual conference of the Association of the United States Army in Washington, D.C., the commander of the V Corps, Lieutenant General Charles Costanza, MPC "combines within one organization the capabilities of long-range drones and electronic warfare, which results directly from monitoring what is happening in Ukraine."
The evaluation of the multi-purpose company concept was conducted by soldiers of the 3rd Combat Brigade Group (3BCT) of the 10th Mountain Division, known as the Patriots, during the Combined Resolve 25-1 exercise at the Joint Multinational Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany. According to the division headquarters officer, the company can be considered as the smallest movement-to-contact type unit in front of the battalion and the brigade, which seeks to find and neutralize enemy forces.
Modular unmanned Ghost platform from Anduril
The goal is to eliminate several levels of command and, thus, reduce the time from detecting a target to delivering a "fatal blow" to it. So, during the exercise, interacting with electronic warfare and fire support groups, MPC conducted reconnaissance using ground, air and electromagnetic sensors. The MPC concept assumes that its personnel will operate ahead of the rest of the brigade at a distance of 3-4 km. The distance is justified by an analysis of the capabilities of mounted fire and the new silent modular Ghost UAV platform from the American company Anduril.
The S-100 quadcopter platform
According to the division headquarters, the MPC company operated in three platoons during the exercise.
The reconnaissance platoon, numbering 31 soldiers, consisted of sniper scouts and fighters using Javelin ATGM and other types of weapons, as well as unmanned autonomous platforms-C-100 quadrocopters. The personnel operated on nine-seat ISV-9 infantry fighting vehicles that were also being tested.
Infantry squad vehicle ISV-9
The mortar platoon, consisting of 23 military personnel in Humvee vehicles with trailers, was armed with 120-mm mortars. The platoon consisted of a gunner sergeant who coordinated mounted fire with the scouts.
Shock (lethal) platoon The Unmanned systems (Lethal Unmanned Systems, LUS), consisting of 26 soldiers, uses barrage ammunition as a weapon. Switchblade 600 , and Anduril's Ghost drones for surveillance. It was also equipped with the Stinger MANPADS and Drone Defender anti-drone rifles.
Drone Defender Anti-drone Rifle
The new US Army unit additionally included an electronic warfare group and a fire support group. The first group, consisting of four people, used Beast+ jamming systems. The second included a fire support officer, a non-commissioned fire support officer, and three radio operators. They have increased the MPC's ability to summon artillery and other means of fire damage to the enemy.
"So, if you can imagine the flow, then your UAV will be ahead. He will be followed by your reconnaissance platoon, followed by your mortars, and followed by the rest of the battalion," the division headquarters explained.
It is noted that during the testing of the new US Army unit, not a single attack drone with a first-person view (FPV) was used, which have become ubiquitous on both sides of the conflict in Ukraine. The logic of their absence from the division headquarters was left unexplained.
The exercise with MPC was supposed to show whether it could replace the capabilities lost by the army in 2024 after a major restructuring to transition to large-scale combat operations. Among other things, the U.S. Army has done away with the cavalry squadrons of the Infantry Brigade Combat Team (ICBT). In addition, it was decided to withdraw the UAVs that were an integral part of the brigade, such as the Shadow and Raven (RQ-11 Ravens), to make way for future capabilities on a layered basis.
It is reported that the MPC, originally called the strike company, was created in 2024 due to the need, after restructuring, to "maximize the size of the infantry brigade combat team in accordance with the army's objectives." In army slang, it was called ARSTRUC 25-29. The name "shock company" was changed as part of the general army renaming program.
The US Army "aspired to become more compact, light and deadly." The possibility of preserving this value was explored. As a result of the analysis, army analysts came to the creation of a multi-purpose company.
Currently, the time frame within which the effectiveness of the MPC concept will be determined is not yet clear. However, it is assumed that the use of the concept will continue in the brigade.
The US Army command ordered to look for ways to continue testing and "create prototypes of organizations such as this multi-purpose company." As reported, "at the moment, neither the division nor the brigade plans to disband the multi-purpose company as part of the 3rd brigade, so it will continue to participate in exercises and collective training in the form in which it is now."
According to media reports, two more divisions, the 101st and the 25th, are evaluating similar units. All this was ordered by the previous administration of J.Biden. President Donald Trump has ordered the new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, to conduct a thorough review of all Pentagon programs. It is not yet clear whether the new leadership of the US army will want to continue this program, but it fits into the idea of more mobile, flexible and deadly forces that are better suited to the wars of the future, which, apparently, corresponds to the goals of P. Hegseth.
According to the materials of the resource twz.com
