Exercise Khanjar 180223 CREDIT UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023.
Omani soldiers as they attack a simulated village as part of Exercise Khanjar (Picture: MOD).
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British troops perfect battle-winning tactics in the Omani desert

Exercise Khanjar 180223 CREDIT UK MOD © Crown copyright 2023.
Omani soldiers as they attack a simulated village as part of Exercise Khanjar (Picture: MOD).

British troops have been put through their paces during Exercise Khanjar, the first main training exercise of a four-month deployment to Oman. 

The aim of the exercise is to build a mock assault on the enemy, made more difficult by operating in the inhospitable environment of an Omani desert. 

Exercise Khanjar involving up to 1,000 British and 100 Omani soldiers, is the British Army's foremost annual training exercise that takes place across the Gulf region. 

Watch: UK troops train in Oman's hot and dusty desert on Exercise Khanjar in 2022.

More than half the soldiers participating in the exercise were drawn from 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment.  

Smaller numbers came from The Royal Logistics Corps, The Royal Engineers, The Royal Artillery, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and the Coastal Security Force. 

Alongside the Royal Army of Oman soldiers, the British troops perfected their desert war-fighting skills.  

The exercise takes place in the Ras Madrakah Omani-British joint training area, a desert with complex wadi systems and mountains, six times the size of Salisbury Plain.  

The area makes for a perfect environment to test troops' ability to operate in arduous terrain.  

Omani and British soldiers as they complete the attack a simulated village as part of Exercise Khanjar Oman and celebrate together 180223 CREDIT MOD
Omani and British soldiers as they complete the attack a simulated village as part of Exercise Khanjar Oman and celebrate together (Picture: MOD Crown copyright 2023)

Battlegroup Commander Lieutenant Colonel Ben Hawes, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment said: "My troops have been absolutely put through their paces."

The group commander explained that the aim of the training was to prepare the troops for maximum battle readiness under extreme circumstances.  

"Everything that our peer enemies could do to us, has been done to us. 

"I've operated with every single one of my radio frequencies jammed, I've operated with no GPS, I've operated at night for long periods of time." 

Lt Col Hawes has been preparing his troops to assume command of Nato's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in January 2024. 

"Since March last year, the focus of our training has been to ensure that we are ready to fight against a peer enemy force."  

"This exercise is the UK ensuring that its spearhead battlegroup is in exactly the right place to go out the door," Lt Col Hawes added.

A key British partner in the Gulf, Oman is seen as a regional power balancer, able to remain on good terms with neighbouring countries.  

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