Royal Navy divers joined NATO counterparts in Iceland for the alliance’s largest training event focused on defeating improvised explosive devices and underwater threats, according to a Royal Navy news update.
Exercise Northern Challenge 25, hosted by the Icelandic Coast Guard, brought together more than 500 personnel from 17 nations, including the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Germany and Nordic allies. Over two weeks, divers from the Royal Navy’s Diving and Threat Exploitation Group tackled realistic and complex scenarios, neutralising simulated explosive devices both on land and beneath the sea.
The UK team, made up of personnel from Portsmouth, Plymouth and Faslane, conducted live demolitions on training IEDs, carried out diving operations to protect critical underwater infrastructure, and dealt with shore-based threats such as vehicle-borne explosives.
Lieutenant Commander Chris Forster, officer in charge of the Delta Squadron contingent, was quoted in the news update as saying: “Exercise Northern Challenge 25 in Keflavik, Iceland, allowed Delta Squadron to demonstrate our diving and Explosive Ordnance Disposal expertise in a realistic and demanding environment. The scenarios were tailored to reflect the contemporary threats a NATO task force could face, providing an invaluable opportunity to enhance our interoperability, refine our skills and ensure we remain ready to respond to complex challenges alongside our allies.”
The Royal Navy said the exercise allowed personnel to share tactics, techniques and lessons learned while testing their ability to manage complex operations under pressure. Teams employed bomb suits, digital x-ray systems and drones to identify and neutralise explosive threats in scenarios designed to mirror real-world environments.
