Hundreds of soldiers from Catterick Garrison joined forces with the Royal Danish Army to take part in a major training exercise using the latest in military technology.
Around 750 Catterick-based Royal Lancers took around 300 vehicles to join the Danish soldiers in Galloway Forest Park for Exercise Lucknow Lancer.
The aim of the exercise was to develop interoperability between British forces and NATO partners, as well as prepare soldiers for Operations Cabrit in Poland and Elgin in Kosovo later this year.
Lieutenant Colonel Richmond, Commanding Officer of the Royal Lancers, said: “This is about working with our allies and increasing our ability to fight together.
"It is an excellent alliance and it works really well.
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“It is a big exercise. We are bringing together the UK, Denmark, Canada, and the US.
"It really is a Battlegroup, where we have got all arms represented so we can fight effectively in every way.
"It’s genuinely brilliant having the Danes here, our cultures are similar.
"We’ve been working together for decades."
Danish forces, represented by 150 soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, The Guard Hussar Regiment, were well-received by their British counterparts throughout the exercise.
Sergeant Eaton, who was in charge of electronic communications in Battlegroup Headquarters, said: “I’ve worked with the Danish on previous operations and they are always good people to work with.
“Their English is really, really good and we can understand what they are trying to say to us.
"They can generally understand us if we don’t have too thick of an accent!”
Danish troops, operating primarily in in Mercedes-Benz G-Class trucks, advanced though the giant training area and brought in vital combat power for the Battlegroup.
Brigadier General Nissen, of the Royal Danish Army, said the exercise was a continuation of a long-standing collaboration between the two armies.
Although the Royal Lancers, an armoured cavalry Regiment, were the lead unit for the exercise, elements from other parts of the British Army also contributed.
Gunners from the Royal Artillery provided surveillance and target acquisition capabilities as well as extra firepower, while there was also involvement from the Royal Army Medical and Logistics Corps, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Military Police, and the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry.
Sergeant Eaton said: “There’s no better way to prepare than to go through scenarios, training for missions and tasks.”
The US Air Force also supported the exercise by sending in Strike Eagle fighters, taking off from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, to conduct bombing runs.
During the exercise, innovative new platforms were used to boost the effectiveness of the soldiers on the ground.
For example, alongside unmanned aerial systems used to observe enemy forces, troops used an app called Android Tactical Awareness Kit (ATAK) on their body armour-mounted mobile devices.
Lieutenant Colonel Richmond said: “ATAK gives us a brilliant opportunity to understand how the most modern technology could enable us to fight more effectively.
"It shows me where I am, where everyone else is, and it allows us to plan collaboratively and identify targets really accurately on the ground."
He added: "The innovation work that we can do on big exercises like this can be really positive.”
Brigadier General Nissen said: “What I’ve seen from the Battlegroup in terms of innovation is really great and it’s something I want to pursue in my Brigade.
"We need to keep the edge and be better than the enemy.”
More than 100 personnel from Royal Lancers will deploy on Operation Cabrit later this year while a group of more than 30 soldiers from the Wiltshire-based Household Cavalry Regiment will be going on Operation Elgin.
Cabrit is focused on threat deterrence and reassurance of NATO allies, while Elgin centreds around supporting the decision-making process of a multinational NATO headquarters.
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