Royal Marines Practise Boarding Drills With Carrier Strike Group

Royal Marines have been perfecting specialist boarding skills and have practised saving downed aircrew as they operate as part of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG).

A small team of Royal Marines from 42 Commando provide support to the CSG, with the ability to intercept drug smugglers and terrorists while also being trained to recover aviators from behind enemy lines.

The focus is on bringing F-35 pilots who have been ejected from their aircraft back to safety.

One of the boarding teams is based on board HMS Kent, which operates close to the aircraft carrier but also peels off on her own missions.

As part of the exercise, alongside French and Spanish vessels, Royal Marines and their French counterparts boarded a French oil tanker, playing the role of transporting illegal cargo and personnel.

They practised seizing the vessel and securing all members of the crew.

Speaking about the exercise, Lieutenant Jamie Weaver of Lima Company said: "This was a great opportunity for the team to gain a greater understanding of how other nations conduct boarding operations, share our tactics, techniques, and procedures with other forces, whilst enhancing our own capability."

In another training scenario, the boarding team had to fast rope 30ft onto the deck of HMS Kent in order to secure the ship.

They also carried out mock rescues, dropping in by helicopters to save an isolated person from an urban environment and conducting a covert rescue, while under pressure from a 'rapidly advancing adversary'. 

This sort of training ensures the commandos are ready to deploy at short notice, day or night and in any conditions, should the need arise.

Cover image: Royal Navy.