Army

Silent delivery: Specialist Commando fire support team infiltrated by U-boat

Mike Morton

7th October 2026 at 9:29am

Soldiers from 148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery board a German submarine as they practise their float-on float-off drills off the coast of Cape Wrath

Cape Wrath in the Scottish Highlands is the most northwesterly point in mainland Britain, providing a good training area for the Army Commandos on Exercise Strike Warrior 26

Once satisfied with the drills, the Commandos headed towards the shore to scout for a suitable place to set up so they could start carrying out the task in hand

With the boat pulled up on the sand, the gunners from 148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery were in full tactical mode as they made their way to their position

The beach landing was probably the most dangerous phase of the operation, with the Commandos being vulnerable to an enemy ambush until they'd cleared the area

The role of a 148 Fire Support Team is to control and co-ordinate naval gunfire support - in this case provided by a Portuguese warship

As with any exercise of this nature, the objective was to see without being seen - and to call down effective fire on the enemy positions

Commandos needed to stay alert while trying to conceal themselves using the environment around them - but beware making a silhoutette against the skyline

Job done, it was time to exfiltrate, get the boat back in the water and make the rendezvous with the German U-boat

Despite wearing dry suits, the Commandos were no doubt relieved to get back to the relative comfort provided by the German navy sub

Expert Navy and Army Commandos have landed on a remote area of coastline, being infiltrated by submarine.

The sailors and soldiers from 148 (Meiktila) Commando Forward Observation Battery were deployed via a German U-boat on Exercise Strike Warrior 26.

The specialists were deployed to carry out reconnaissance and direct naval gunfire from behind enemy lines – which in this case was Cape Wrath in the Scottish Highlands.

Having silently reached the shore on inflatable raiding boats to establish an observation post on the cliffs, they directed the guns of Portuguese warship NRP Dom Francisco de Almeida onto "enemy" positions.

The exercise in Cape Wrath, the most northwesterly point in mainland Great Britain, marks the first time since the war in Afghanistan that all the specialist elements of the UK's elite Commando formation have worked together.

But Strike Warrior 26 goes way beyond Cape Wrath, with more than 2,000 personnel from the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Norway and the US on exercise across Scotland.

The deployment across the Western Isles, the North-West Approaches, Galloway, the Borders region and the North Sea is designed to rehearse allied crisis-response operations in the High North and North Atlantic region.

The Operations Officer for 148 Battery, who cannot be named for operational reasons, said: "This level of complexity and coordination of live assets has not been achieved by 148 Battery for nearly 30 years.

"We wanted to demonstrate to our partners across the United Kingdom Commando Force, wider UK Defence and Nato Special Operations Force community the type of missions we are prepared to execute against future threats.

"Warfighting is our focus, and we are prepared to employ specialist assets to deliver multi-domain fires and targeting."

All pictures courtesy of the Ministry of Defence