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Commandos head back to the Arctic Circle for major NATO work
10 January 2025
Britain’s Commandos are deploying to the Arctic Circle as the UK underscores its commitment to the security of NATO’s northern flank against the backdrop of ongoing conflict in Europe.
Elements of the UK Commando Force, including Royal Marines, Army Commandos and the Commando Helicopter Force are bound for the high north and major military drills.
Three months of rigorous preparations have led to this point as more than a thousand Commandos begin operating in one of the world’s most inhospitable environments, where temperatures are known to plummet to -35C and where polar nights mean the sun doesn’t ‘rise’ until the end of January.
Royal Marines use Camp Viking at Skjold (74 miles south of Tromsø), which will serve as their operational hub for the next ten years as they continue to be at the tip of the Arctic spear.
The Royal Marines have a long tradition of cold weather and mountain warfare dating back to the 1940s, and continue to build on the strong bond between Norway and the UK.
The Commandos will be sharpening their ability to survive, sustain, move and fight across the tough Arctic terrain as they build up to an exercise which will test allies’ collective ability to defend Norway from invasion.
The British contingent bring with them vast experience of Arctic operations, but also an appetite for development and change as they embrace new tactics and technology, including a consignment of new snowmobiles after a £10m investment in the vehicles for reconnaissance and raiding operations.
Meanwhile, Yeovilton-based Commando Helicopter Force deploy to Royal Norwegian Air Force base, Bardufoss, for Operation Clockwork.
The wings of the Royal Marines – who fly the Commando Wildcats and Merlins – are adept operators in one of the planet’s most inhospitable environments, and Clockwork serves as their yearly top-up of the deep freeze.
Their base is 20 miles west of Camp Viking – a drive of at least an hour on the winding Arctic roads, but barely ten minutes by helicopter.
The Commando Force training will work up to participation in their final Arctic assignment of 2025, Exercise Joint Viking – the largest military exercise in Norway this year, which will test allies’ ability to defend the strategically important region.
More than 10,000 troops from seven nations are set to participate in Joint Viking across Norway’s complicated coastline of fjords, inlets and islands – and inland across the mountainous terrain.
Primarily Joint Viking will take place in Troms County in the northern reaches of the country inside the Arctic Circle.
The British element will form into the Littoral Response Group (North) for the exercise, bringing together amphibious ship, landing craft, helicopters and troops under one potent force for raiding operations from the coast.
The Royal Navy task group is brought together to response to crises and events in Europe’s strategic waterways and chokepoints. Its sister, Littoral Response Group (South), has the same responsibility for the Mediterranean and regions east of the Suez Canal.