WATCH: Brits Up Against Argentines In Military Skills Competition...But Who Comes Out On Top?

British troops based in Cyprus on UN peacekeeping duties have been competing in a hotly-contested military skills competition.

 The multi-national event takes place inside the buffer zone in Nicosia, and tests teams form a host of countries on range of military capabilities.

For team 2 Alpha it was a tough day in the office. After an endurance march, driving challenges, and an incident response tests, there was an arduous assault course.  

The UN military skills competition takes place every six months inside the buffer zone, and teams from each of the three UN sectors compete for first place and national pride.

In what was the car park of Nicosia’s abandoned airport they held the motoring part of the competition.

Undoubtedly the most difficult task was the drink driving test.

Wearing a pair of special goggles that mimic the effects of drinking, troops had to manoeuvre through a tricky course of cones.

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards took over Op Tosca three months ago. After 75 years operating tanks they recently changed role, becoming a light cavalry regiment.

Out on the firing range the marksmanship test took place, after a stretcher run to make sure they were a suitably breathless.

Each soldier fired 16 rounds at the targets, with points on offer for the most accurate.

One of the other real challenges of this competition is the incident response test. This time it involved a fake car crash, multiple casualties, and a death-  scenario soldiers can often find themselves dealing with for real in on operations.

For many of these younger soldiers this peacekeeping mission is their first operational tour- a challenge their commanding officer, Lt Col Dominic Coombs, says they’ve embraced:

“Of course, Op Tosca is benign, but it’s got a lot of relevance. It’s important that our young guys are recognised for what they’re doing out here”.

In the end, 2 Alpha narrowly missed out on the podium, taking fourth place.

While another Brit team took third, the winners were a contingent of Argentinian Marines.