UK unveils major 2027 home defence exercise to test hybrid attack response

On the 14th of June, the UK Government announced that it will carry out its biggest home defence exercise, Operational ALBISTON SHADOW, in decades in 2027. It will feature scenarios to test the country’s ability to counter hybrid threats such as cyberattacks, disinformation, and sabotage of critical infrastructure.

This was announced as part of the Annual Statement on National Resilience by Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones (in a written statement to Parliament).

The precise scenario is to remain classified, but it has been revealed that the multi-day exercise will test government preparedness for hybrid attacks against the UK.

The statement writes that the exercise will complement NATO’s upcoming exercise called CMX27. Both of these drills are to help “ensure UK alignment with NATO allies and partners against a backdrop of rising threats.”

More risks added to the National Risk Register

The Government says, “The risk of interference in the UK’s democratic process has been added to the national risk register. “

It further explains that a total of seven new risks have been added to the National Risk Register. These include the risk of cyber attacks on data infrastructure, water infrastructure and police systems, “amid a rapid increase in the sophistication and proliferation of artificial intelligence.”

Another new risk is ’Digital resilience failure’ which builds on lessons learnt from the CrowdStrike IT outage in July 2024.

But the movement of threats was not all one way. The threat of disruptions to Russian gas supplies has been removed from the register as the UK has now reduced its reliance on Russian gas.

The Government is also gearing up to launch a national resilience campaign later this year aimed at encouraging the public to take “simple steps to improve their household’s resilience to risks like cyber attacks, flooding, or severe weather.”

Russia named as a threat driving the changes

Other than the reference to the UK being less dependent on Russian gas, the Government statement largely did not mention Russia or Britain’s aerospace directly. Russian drones are known to be a major source of angst.

However, Louise Sandher-Jones MP, Minister for the Armed Forces, spoke of the importance of the changes, saying, “Russia is not only a threat to NATO’s eastern flank. It is a direct threat to the UK homeland and these exercises, together with important measures, [will help the UK prepare].”

The UK is also updating its classified government crisis plans known as the “War Books” for the first time since 2004. Sandher-Jones said updating the War Books will both help enable Britain to prepare to meet Russian threats and help show the British public how seriously the Government is taking the threats.