Marines hit beach
ROYAL Marine Commandos have staged a show of force in one of Europe’s biggest military exercises.
The heavily-armed elite troops stormed ashore and captured a Scottish beach as part of the 17-nation exercise Joint Warrior.
They leapt from rigid inflatable boats and charged through surf in an amphibious landing on Dundrennan Beach near Dumfries.
The Marines are threatened with cutbacks in the latest defence review, which is due to report this summer.
But the crack troops showed their value in any future war halfway through a two-week exercise involving more than 11,600 soldiers, sailors and airmen centred on HM Naval Base Clyde.
Tactics
The exercise brings together all three British services plus troops from Nato members such as America, Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands, as well as non-Nato partners including Australia, Finland and Sweden.
Warships from around the world have been gathering on the Clyde while allied aircraft have been operating out of RAF Lossiemouth near Inverness.
The exercise, which finishes next Friday, will go through the full gamut of combat operations.
It includes warfare over disputed territory, counter terrorism, anti-smuggling and antipiracy operations.
There will be a mock civilian evacuation and information warfare where fake news can shape the battlefield. As part of the exercise GPS was jammed this week in northwest Scotland to simulate the impact of electronic and cyber warfare.
Among the ships taking part is the £110million Royal Fleet Auxiliary oil tanker Tidespring, one of four built to supply the two new aircraft carriers.
The whole exercise is being observed by a delegation of Russian military personnel under an international agreement designed Navy’s