"Ruthlessly focussed" Royal Marines deployed to freezing Arctic Circle with Norway amid growing Russia threat
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Determined Royal Marines are training in bitterly cold temperatures with allies amid the growing threat from Russia.
The UK’s Commando Force are operating in the Arctic Circle with Norway’s military, broadening their current commitment of annual winter deployments. Both nations signed the Lunna House agreement in December, agreeing to combine their forces to patrol the North Atlantic and respond to Moscow’s shadow fleet and burgeoning submarine forces.
Their joint military clout is growing, with defence secretaries John Healey and Tore O Sandvik agreeing to invest heavily in autonomous surface vessels and submersibles, un-crewed mine-hunting capabilities, and an interchangeable fleet of Type 26 frigates.
With these diplomatic commitments in place, cold weather and mountain warfare experts in the Royal Marines will continue to spearhead British operations in the region. The UK Commando Force established an operations hub, known as Camp Viking – located in the village of Øverbygd, about 40 miles south of Tromsø – in 2023 and are returning with a force of 1,500 personnel. They will be joined by all-terrain vehicles and aircraft from Commando Helicopter Force.
Lieutenant Colonel Chris Armstrong, Commanding Officer 30 Commando Information Exploitation Group, said: “The UK Commando Force is stepping up readiness to war-fight alongside our allies in the High North. As NATO’s cold-weather specialists, we are ruthlessly focussed on mission rehearsals with our closest partners. Fusing intelligence, bold commando tactics, and cutting-edge technology – we remain poised for operations.”
What are the Royal Marines doing on their Arctic exercises?
The commandos will operate across the coastlines and mountains of Northern Norway and take part in Exercise Cold Response. They will be part of the largest military exercises in the country in 2026, which demonstrates the ability of Nato to deter threats in the high north.
British personnel will work closely with Norwegian hosts, but also marines from the Netherlands. Training will focus on defending the strategically important region across fjords and mountains. The UK Commando Force has been modernised over the past six years, which includes developing AI enabled targeting, multi-domain fires and un-crewed surface vessels (USVs).
The Commando Helicopter Force will deploy to the Royal Norwegian Air Force base, Bardufoss, for Operation Clockwork - annual aircraft drills in freezing conditions.