Angus Royal Marines have been at the tip of an Arctic spear in a major NATO exercise.
Strike teams from 45 Commando led reconnaissance missions during Exercise Nordic Response in northern Norway.
The elite Angus unit relayed information back to NATO headquarters to plan where to deploy the main punch of the alliance’s forces.
And RM Condor’s commanding officer said key lessons had been learned from their part in the large-scale exercise.
Lieutenant Colonel Alex Nixon said: “This exercise was an excellent opportunity to work alongside NATO partners to deter Russia in the High North.
“The exercise demonstrated the operational utility of Littoral Response Group (North), one of the Royal Navy’s amphibious task groups, in a warfighting context.
“The Royal Navy is learning lessons from Ukraine and is adapting and upgrading its forces to ensure they are as potent as possible.”
Amphibious landings by 45 Commando
Nordic Response focused on amphibious landings on Norway’s complex northern coastline.
It brought troops across the Arctic and into NATO’s newest members Sweden and Finland.
Aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and the UK Carrier Strike Group, including F-35B Lightning jets, were part of a potent naval force.
45 Commando’s Zulu Company landed ashore from RFA Mounts Bay in Burfjord, Northern Norway.
They gathered information on beach landing sites for Italian and Dutch forces.
And Zulu worked closely with the French 9th Marine Infantry Brigade and US Marine Corps to call in strikes from warships offshore.
Meanwhile, Yankee Company had been operating in the region before Nordic Response began to gather information to shape the ground offensive.
They carried our a covert 200km ride on snowmobiles deep into ‘enemy’ territory to begin the recce.
Earlier in the operation, 45 Commando shared a clip of a morning ‘traffic jam’ on the snow covered terrain after encountering a herd of reindeer.
Nordic Response involved over 20,000 military personnel in total from 12 other NATO members.
The Littoral Response Group (North) is centred on 400 Royal Marines, Army and Navy Commandos and the amphibious ship RFA Mounts Bay.
More images from Exercise Nordic Response.
