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QinetiQ Training & Simulation help map out major battlefield study

18/04/2024

Steve Yates

A special edition of The British Army Review released to coincide with the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – and featuring detailed cartography created by a QinetiQ Training & Simulation operational analyst – has attracted a global readership.

Working closely with the authors of The Battle of Irpin River, Nicholas Riggs produced a collection of maps that help guide readers through the opening chapters of Ukraine’s ongoing fight against a numerically superior enemy.

Published in print and digitally, the publication – which includes exclusive first-hand accounts of the fighting that prevented the Ukrainian capital from being captured by Russian troops – was read by more than 3,500 people within hours of its launch and has since been consumed by an international audience in the tens of thousands.

In addition to its still growing readership, The Battle of Irpin River has won plaudits from across Defence, with John Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point’s Modern War Institute, and Stuart Lyle, urban operations lead at the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, among those championing the title’s content.

As the business partner of the Centre of Historical Analysis and Conflict Research (CHACR) – the publisher of The British Army Review, QinetiQ Training & Simulation’s contribution to the issue also included the provision of its editor, Andrew Simms.

Major General (Retired) Dr Andrew Sharpe, Director CHACR, commended “the really outstanding work that went into producing this fascinating and, for the professional soldier, hugely valuable British Army Review”.

“That the important research it showcases has struck a chord with those in uniform and members of the wider Defence community comes as no surprise,” continued Dr Sharpe, who penned the publication’s foreword. “The authors, among them CHACR Associate Fellow James Sladden, walked the Ukrainian battlefields and talked to those who fought on them, and – combined with professionally produced maps and a trained editorial eye – these insights make for a compelling first-hand history of the opening campaigns of an ongoing and unfolding war.”

You can view the full edition here.