SCOTLAND / RankWire.AI / – Exercise Strike Warrior 2026 has brought more than 2,000 personnel together for the UK Commando Force’s largest collective exercise in 15 years. The Royal Navy said the training began on September 28 and runs through October 9. Activity stretches across Scotland, the Western Isles, the North-West Approaches, Galloway, the Borders region and the North Sea. Eight warships and 19 aircraft are taking part in the commando-led exercise. The drills combine maritime, land and air activity across northern UK training areas.
The Royal Navy said personnel from the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Norway and the United States are participating. Portuguese naval forces also supported a major live-fire serial off Cape Wrath. British commandos from 148 Commando Forward Observation Battery deployed from a German submarine before moving ashore by inflatable raiding craft. From concealed observation positions, the teams directed naval gunfire from the Portuguese frigate NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida onto simulated targets. The battery forms part of 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery.
The Cape Wrath operation combined submarine insertion, reconnaissance ashore and naval fire coordination in one training sequence. The German submarine supported intelligence and surveillance before deploying the observation teams toward the coast. The British personnel then established an observation post and passed targeting information to the Portuguese warship offshore. The battery said it had not coordinated live assets at that level of complexity for nearly 30 years. The teams completed the fire mission as part of a wider maritime integration exercise.
Allied naval firepower
Earlier in Strike Warrior, 148 Battery teams also directed naval gunfire from Dutch frigate HNLMS Van Amstel and Canadian frigate HMCS St. John’s. Both ships operated with NATO’s Standing NATO Maritime Group One in northern European waters. The training required small teams ashore to locate targets, maintain surveillance and coordinate fire from allied ships at sea. The serials tested common procedures between British commandos and NATO naval forces from several countries. The activity also supported training for naval fires operators and specialist observer teams.
Strike Warrior also includes amphibious landings, boarding operations, intelligence missions, logistics, maritime security and anti-submarine warfare. Commandos have used drones for reconnaissance, simulated strikes and resupply missions to personnel operating ashore. Medical teams have trained to establish protected underground treatment facilities for dispersed forces. The exercise brings specialist elements of the UK Commando Force together on a scale not seen since operations in Afghanistan. Training also covers sustainment for personnel operating across widely separated locations.
Distributed commando operations
The exercise spans a wide area rather than concentrating activity at one amphibious landing site. Training places small teams across coastal and inland locations where they can gather intelligence, identify targets and direct supporting fire. Ships, aircraft and land forces then provide the larger weapons and support needed for those missions. The Royal Navy said the exercise rehearses allied crisis-response operations in the High North and North Atlantic region. The format links reconnaissance teams ashore with allied platforms operating at sea.
Strike Warrior 2026 demonstrates multinational coordination across submarine, surface, air and land forces during live and simulated missions. NATO naval units have provided ships, surveillance support and naval gunfire for British teams operating ashore. The exercise also tests communications, sustainment and targeting across widely separated locations. It concludes on October 9 after nearly two weeks of training involving commandos, warships, aircraft and allied support units. The final phase continues the broader effort to integrate specialist teams with multinational maritime forces.