THE ARMY’s elite Ranger Regiment is to take on a special mountain and arctic warfare role as it becomes Nato’s special operations strike force in northern Europe.
New plans, which will see the establishment of the Army’s first dedicated cold weather warfare unit since the Cold War, come at a time of rising military tension with Russia
Crucially, the strike force will reinforce new Nato member Sweden in times of crisis, working alongside US Navy seals and other Nato Special Forces.
For the past month, soldiers from the 3 Ranger Battalion have been learning to live and fight in the freezing arctic of Sweden’s Lapland, where the temperature routinely drops to minus 30 degrees celsius.
Based at the remote Arvidsjaur training area, they have been receiving training by Sweden’s 193 Jägarbataljonen – a Special Forces unit which specialises in arctic warfare.
Major Joshua Heugh of 3 Rangers said: “We are here in Sweden and this is a great example of where we can learn a huge amount from our partners and demonstrate our ability to be interoperable against similar threats.”
In May 2022 PM Boris Johnson offered both Sweden and Finland far-reaching security pacts to protect them during the transition between applying for and gaining full Nato membership.
In doing so, the UK went further than any other Nato member by offering both countries Article 5 rights, guaranteeing that an attack on their sovereign territory would have automatically triggered a British military response.
News of the Rangers new role comes at a time when the Ministry of Defence is facing its largest budget deficit since 2012, when Britain was engaged in active wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Last week the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee issued a scathing report which noted a £16.9 billion shortfall between what the MoD needs to properly defend this country’s interests and its budget.
The report says the situation is “undermined by issues including more people leaving the Armed Forces than being recruited (and ) the mothballing of Royal Navy ships due to crew shortages.”
Cold weather warfare is usually the domain of the Royal Marines, and around 1,200 Commandos are currently taking part in arctic Nato war-games in Norway.
But the Royal Navy’s recruitment and retention crisis means the Corps is unable to field extra commitments , leaving the Army to generate its own capability.
The Rangers are currently in Sweden under Nato’s Exercise Steadfast Defender – the biggest war games since the Cold War – which will see 20,000 UK troops operating in northern and Eastern Europe.
When asked when Russia might be ready to launch offensives in the High North, Maj Gen Robert Sofge, Commander of US Marine Corps Forces in Europe and Africa, said: ‘Our purpose is to assure and deter, and if our deterrence works, then never.”
Last night the former head of the British Army General Lord Dannatt said: “Sweden and Finland’s new status as Nato members means additional commitments are needed.
“The Ranger battalions were invented by former CGS Mark Carleton-Smith, and the idea is that Ranger battalions carry out special jobs around the world.
“The High North is now a priority, and using the Rangers is good thinking.”
