Future Commando Force: Royal Marines Trial New Concepts

Royal Marines have been testing new concepts for the Future Commando Force at Bovington Training Area in Dorset.

The concepts are based on smaller, more versatile teams that can be easily tailored for specific missions.

Around 60 marines from 40 Commando were split into three troops while trying to find and fight each other to trial the new ways of working, as well as testing new equipment and team structures.

Marine Edward Harte, 40 Commando, told Forces News the commandos have been "trialling everything".

He said: "Instead of pushing out as sections, we're going as four-man teams and seeing how it works and how we could deal with casualties and stuff like that.

"It's still a bit 'trial and error' at the moment."

Traditionally, marines work in sections of eight but under the Future Commando Force, they could be broken down into smaller, bespoke groups for specialist operations.

Having previously been deployed from the UK, marines may now be stationed on a ship in strategic locations, allowing high readiness groups to be prepared for missions at a moment's notice.

Under the proposed plans, commandos will also be given more autonomy when carrying out tasks, allowing for the expertise of personnel to be tailored to the mission. 

Marine Matt Doey, 40 Commando, told Forces News it is "really exciting" to take part in the exercise.

"As marines, our input from exercises like this and others is really being used to help form the concept," he said. 

"You can use what goes well, what goes badly, and essentially build that into what we hope will be a really great Future Commando Force concept over the next coming years." 

The Future Commando Force is designed to modernise the way Royal Marines operate.

It has been described by the Royal Navy as the most significant transformation and rebranding programme since World War Two.

It will see Royal Marines receive new uniforms and weapons, as well as the formation of the new Vanguard Strike Company.

The company will be made up of more than 150 Royal Marines and Army Commandos. It is due to deploy for the first time next year.