In 2020, EasiBridge reached another operational milestone — prototype trials conducted by 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (3 Para) during Exercise Askari Storm in Kenya. The trials marked the first time a Parachute Regiment unit had evaluated the system, and the first time EasiBridge had been operationally tested on the African continent.
Exercise Askari Storm is a long-running British Army training exercise conducted in Kenya, typically involving demanding terrain operations in extreme heat across the East African bush — conditions that test equipment as hard as any battlefield environment. For EasiBridge, it was a proving ground unlike anything previously encountered: high temperatures, remote locations, and the kind of rugged, unforgiving terrain that separates equipment that works from equipment that fails.
The fact that 3 Para selected EasiBridge for evaluation during Askari Storm is significant in itself. The Parachute Regiment operates at the sharp end of British rapid deployment capability — units that need equipment to be light enough to jump with, compact enough to carry on foot, and robust enough to work first time in any environment. EasiBridge’s core proposition — 1.5m × 7kg sections, a 15m bridge in three 20kg bags, deployed by a small team without tools or plant — is precisely the kind of system that appeals to airborne forces.
The trials came the same year that BATTLESPACE published Dr. Bright’s full capability summary, which disclosed the Kenya trials alongside 24 Commando Royal Engineer’s earlier evaluations and confirmed that prospective orders were beginning to exceed the capacity of a one-man operation. The Parachute Regiment’s interest, combined with the Royal Engineers’ active procurement, was a clear signal that EasiBridge was moving from experimental novelty to credible multi-unit capability.