British personnel travel to Norway for Arctic Warfare exercise

Land February 28, 2020

Over 2,000 British personnel from Joint Helicopter Command have travelled to Norway to take part in major Arctic Warfare exercise Cold Response.

A task force made of HMS Sutherland, HMS Albion, RFA Lyme Bay, and HMS Echo set sail for Norway for Arctic Warfare exercise Cold Response 2020. They will join a force of more than a thousand Green Berets who have been in Norway over recent weeks mastering Arctic survival, movement and combat skills in Norway ahead of the larger multinational exercise.

Exercise Cold Response is a Norway-led, large-scale exercise that will boost Allies’ ability to operate together in extreme sub-zero conditions. The UK will exercise alongside the USA, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway, and around 14,000 personnel will participate in total.

45 Commando’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Innes Catton, said: “45 Commando Royal Marines are the UK’s mountain and cold weather warfare specialists. During Exercise Cold Response, we will be working alongside our NATO allies to give our adversaries hell from the sea.”

“As the UK’s Lead Commando Group and poised to deploy on operations around the world, 45 Commando will be the ‘tip of the NATO spear’ during the exercise and we will strike the enemy using small, lethal teams on amphibious Commando raids, reminiscent of our World War Two Commando forebears. We have a long history of operating in the Arctic and remain at the forefront as experts in combat in one of the world’s harshest environments.”

“On Cold Response, commandos will continue to confront the challenges posed by ever-evolving threats and work on developing small-team tactics as part of our Future Commando Force evolution.”

While on Cold Response, HMS Sutherland will be adopting Anti-Submarine Warfare duties. Throughout the exercise, the frigate will conduct a wide variety of serials including gunnery and boarding operations, maintaining and enhancing her readiness for future tasking.

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Arctic armed forces personnel combat exercise HMS Albion HMS Echo Norway