Swedish Rangers: British Army Rangers train with Sweden's elite forces
British Army Rangers have teamed up with a squad from the Swedish Rangers for a reconnaissance exercise in the Swedish countryside.
Personnel from 3 Ranger joined troops from the Norrland Dragoon Regiment just six months after the UK signed historic security declarations with Sweden and Finland.
The two countries applied to join NATO earlier this year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine – with Sweden having a history of tension with Russia, long before its war with Ukraine.
The Swedish troops taking part in the exercise were from 193rd Jägarbataljonen – part of the special operations wing, a specialised arctic light infantry unit.
Sweden's Rangers are trained to carry out reconnaissance behind enemy lines, carrying out ambushes while surveying enemy activity for command.
During the exercise, British and Swedish Rangers operated boats in perilous waterways and unforgiving, sub-arctic conditions.
Watch: Ben Wallace: Finland and Sweden 'will succeed' in joining NATO.
The exercise was set within the framework of Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) co-operation, an alliance launched eight years ago consisting of mostly Nordic countries.
In a first, the troops from both the UK and Sweden joined together to take part in long-distance patrols and carry out reconnaissance on a number of targets before using both live and blank ammunition.
Colonel Teddy Larsson, Commander of the Norrland Dragoon Regiment, said he was impressed by "the professionalism of both nations' soldiers and how they immediately created cohesion in the group".
"The unique thing about this exercise is that for the first time we have integrated Swedish and British soldiers in the same group," he said.
"In this way, we have gained a very effective exchange of knowledge in a short time."
Watch: Ranger Regiment – the Army's radical future soldiers.
The exercise is likely to be the first of many collaboration following the defence pact then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson said was "a symbol of the everlasting assurance between our nations".
Captain Jake Dolan, Team Commander of 3 RANGER, said the toughest part of the exercise was the terrain, but "it was hugely rewarding".
"The Swedish Rangers are incredibly professional and are real cold weather and patrol experts," he said.
"Being able to share our tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) when working a long way from medical or logistic support was invaluable.
"Normally when you go places you have a bit of a language barrier, but their English was better than some of ours!
"Their scoff house was really good too – just the quality of food – their meatballs, potatoes and peppercorn sauce were amazing," he added.
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