September 26, 2025: Army Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs) are the past. The present: Mobile Brigade Combat Teams (MBCTs). Why? The Ukraine war. We’re still talking infantry, but for infantry to survive and win in the age of First Person View (FPV) drones, on the electronic- and digital-intensive battlefield, and against long-range tube and rocket artillery bearing smart warheads—fast, agile, and informed are the difference between life, death, defeat, and victory.

Fast, agile, informed. Quick movement, the ability to switch axes of advance, knowing where you are, and knowing what’s coming at you. The 21st-century battlefield requires physical, mental, and digital mobility.

Is that asking too much? Is the MBCT the answer?

The transition is already underway. In May 2025, the Army decided to form 25 MBCTs by the end of 2027.

IBCTs had a variety of wheeled vehicles. MBCTs also have wheels—new wheels. One likely TO&E includes 108 Infantry Squad Vehicles (ISVs) and 165 Infantry Utility Vehicles (IUVs) per brigade.

The IUV is a smaller ISV. The ISV, modeled on the Chevy Colorado, can carry a nine-soldier squad. The IUV can carry five soldiers. Each brigade will have an assortment of other vehicles, including armed Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs).

Are the new vehicles cheap? They’re milspec, so they cost real money. But compared to mechanized and armored formations? They’re inexpensive. You can buy in quantity.

The MBCT is designed to dodge and weave. If enemy surveillance systems of any type (drones, electronic, eyeballs, etc.) detect MBCT elements, the MBCT has the vehicles and organic aerial and fire support systems to avoid enemy fire, maintain cohesion, and then, depending on the situation, rapidly withdraw, counterattack, or exploit. MBCTs can launch wheeled swarm attacks supported by drones, artillery, and aircraft. That’s the agile and mobile idea.

The MBCT’s most radical changes are in the number and variety of sensors, drones, and anti-drone systems. One proposed TO&E includes 99 soldier-borne sensor systems (SBSs). MBCT battalions will have at least three kinds of drones (covering short-, medium-, and long-range reconnaissance and interdiction). It appears an MBCT will not only be able to move but also strike enemy transport and logistics within 25 to 30 kilometers of the front line using organic weaponry.

Understand that the MBCT is a work in progress. However, it’s a very astute attempt to integrate unmanned and autonomous systems and real-time intelligence sharing into a mobile ground combat unit. If you can coordinate the intelligence, mobility, and lethal fires (of all types), you just might achieve the 21st-century version of precision mass at the decisive moment and point of engagement. (AB)