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New snowmobiles for Royal Marines rolled out in the Arctic Circle
12 March 2025
Royal Marines Commandos are striking faster and further across the Arctic’s snow and ice thanks to the arrival of new snowmobiles for reconnaissance and raiding operations.
The UK Commando Force now controls 159 Lynx Brutal Over Snow Reconnaissance Vehicles (OSRV) made by a Finnish subsidiary of Canadian firm Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).
Commandos are required to move across the snowy mountains, deep within the Arctic Circle to get into combat.
As the nation’s specialists in extreme cold weather warfare, the Commando Force’s battlefield tactics have evolved for the modern era, deploying in smaller teams deployed across a wide area on reconnaissance, raiding and strike missions behind enemy lines, requiring greater mobility.
Traditional methods, such as skiing, skijoring and snowshoes, still exist as proven methods, however snowmobiles have been used previously by specialist teams and these are now being made available to a wider group within the Littoral Strike Group.
This demand to move more quickly and over longer distances across extremely difficult terrain has resulted in a £9 Million investment to update and grow the Commando Force’s fleet of snowmobiles.
Brigadier Chris Haw, responsible for the Commando Force Transformation Programme, said: “This is a very important investment in the Commando Force’s Special Operations capability in the High North, at a strategically significant time. This is yet another cutting-edge capability enhancement as part of a wider transformation programme providing a more sophisticated and specialist force to Defence.”
The ability to survive and war-fight in extreme environments has always been a core and unique skillset delivered by the UK Commando Force. With Russia increasingly willing to assert influence, the addition of these more powerful snowmobiles enables Commandos to be more agile and to carry heavier loads over more challenging snow terrain.
Commandos can now strike harder, deeper and for longer across the unforgiving Arctic regions of NATO’s High North frontier.
The Lynx Brutal started to arrive at Camp Viking – the UK Commando Force’s winter home in Northern Norway – in January and have already been put through their paces by the Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS) from Plymouth-based 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group as part of Winter Deployment 25.
The Squadron is the eyes and ears of the Commando Force and are specially selected from across the three services. They are trained to work ahead of the main thrust of allied forces to forge the way ahead, often deep into adversary territory.
As Arctic warfare experts they are a key user of the new snowmobiles and so far, the reviews have been positive – with more power and better tracks and suspension options than its predecessors.
“So far the platform has received high praise for ease of use and manoeuvrability, making it the most agile platform used to-date,” said an SRS operator, who cannot be named for operational reasons.
“A more powerful platform but in a lighter frame enables the carriage of heavier sledges without any compromise to performance.
“OSRV operators have been using this enhanced model during Winter Deployment 2025, with visit from senior Defence officers, showcasing their new skills.
“The new Lynx Brutal has proven to be superior to previous platforms with better performance at night, extra suspension options that can be easily changed by the operator, as well as having a more aggressive track which provides more power and lift in deep snow conditions.
“Overall, the platform has been well received and fits well into our operational requirements, which involves long insertion techniques by highly experienced and motivated Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) experts.”
Defence Equipment & Support helped supply the snowmobiles, delivering the full quantity of vehicles in less than nine months from contract award.
The contract includes in-service support and post-design services to ensure the equipment can be operated and the capability sustained throughout its service life.
Steve Hayward, Head of Specialist Vehicles and Uncrewed Land Systems (SVULS) within the Land Environment from DE&S, added: “Responding to the ever-changing needs of our mission partners in the Armed Forces is at the core of what we do in DE&S.
"The rapid procurement and delivery of these snowmobiles, enabled through agile approaches and a collaborative team of stakeholders, has provided a swift and effective enhancement to Royal Marines capability when operating within the Artic Circle.”