UK Commandos hone maritime special operations skills alongside US Navy SEALs

UK Commando Force troops spent three weeks intensively training alongside US Navy SEALs in Virginia, calling in airstrikes and conducting vessel takedowns.

The exercise, called Resolute Strike, was designed to improve how UK and US forces work together and ensure the commandos remain ready for Nato operations.

The troops took part in day and night combat drills, including close-quarters fighting, vessel boarding and compound clearance.

• Boarding shadow fleet tanker gets seal of approval from former head of the Royal Marines
• Royal Marines beat the heat while practising Beating Retreat ahead of ceremonial display
• Should the UK Commando Force be re-tasked to prioritise its focus on the High North?

"Resolute Strike was not only an exceptional Maritime Special Operations training opportunity, but it also proved vital integration with our US partners," said Major George Eatwell, Officer in Command of M Company, 42 Commando.

"Whenever, or wherever we may fight alongside the US in the future, we are now better aligned at the operator level having built those lasting foundational relationships."

Twenty-seven commandos from M Company and specialists from 148 Battery – who are experts in multi-domain fires and targeting – travelled to Virginia Beach after completing a month of training in southern Mississippi.

Members of 148 Battery spent their time with SEAL teams at the Navy Dare Bombing Range in North Carolina, a remote 72 square-mile facility – roughly the same size as Wigan – which US forces practise air-to-surface bombing runs.

The UK commandos guided in attacks by F-18 Super Hornets alongside the SEALs, targeting area denial capabilities – such as surface-to-air missiles– and suppressing enemy air defences.

The completion of this complex workout means that 148 Battery are fully certified to support operations and maintain their very high readiness status.

Meanwhile, the team from M Company – who together form Special Operations Maritime Task Unit 9 (SOMTU) and are required to maintain exceptionally high levels of readiness to deliver maritime special operations around the globe – focused on maritime interdiction operations alongside their SEAL counterparts.

SOMTUs are designed to be deployed around the globe, operating from hubs on land or from ships.

They are able to operate independently or integrate with partner forces.

Each SOMTU can provide one force protection team, two boarding teams and can be bolstered with specialist capabilities, such as scout snipers, uncrewed systems, dive teams, explosive ordnance disposal and electronic warfare.

In all, they carried out more than 20 missions in various close-quarter scenarios.

The training then moved onto a maritime phase, concluding with a final validation exercise aboard USS Arlington, a US Navy amphibious transport ship.