Royal Marines have arrived in the Baltic Sea for Exercise Freezing Winds – Finland’s first major military exercise as a Nato member involving 30 ships and 4,000 personnel.

The training is specifically designed to prepare for operations in the Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea, the latter encompassing around 80,000 islands.

Among the participants in Freezing Winds are two major Nato task forces: Standing Nato Maritime Group One and Standing Nato Mine Countermeasure Group One – which are both responsible for the security and protection of northern Europe’s many waterways.

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“This autumn’s main exercise is the first one that we will execute as a large Nato exercise in which also our Swedish partners will be strongly involved,” said Captain Juhapekka Rautava, the commander of the exercise.

“By training together, we will not only strengthen military capabilities, but also interoperability and our ability to work together.

“The large number of mine countermeasures vessels participating in the exercise is a demonstration of Nato’s interest in and commitment to the protection of underwater infrastructure,” Rautava added.

The exercise will involve Royal Marines participating alongside specialist troops from the Uusimaa Brigade and the US Marine Corps, performing waterborne operations along Finland’s coastline.

At the forefront of these operations is the amphibious ship RFA Mounts Bay, strategically positioned to land forces ashore swiftly for commando raids and covert missions.

The expertise of 4 Assault Squadron, a unit known for its skilled landing craft pilots adept at navigating challenging waterways, ensures the seamless delivery of UK Commando Force specialists to strategic locations along the jagged Finnish coast.

This orchestrated effort is part of the larger Littoral Response Group (North) (LRG) operations, a strategic initiative by the Royal Navy to swiftly deploy to key locations worldwide in response to evolving global events. The Royal Navy currently maintains two LRGs—North and South—with LRG South currently active in the Mediterranean while LRG North focuses its efforts in the Baltic region.

Major Adam Seaney, the Amphibious Operations Officer leading the 4 Assault Squadron boat group, said: “We are used to operating in the challenging and arduous conditions of the Baltic, having only recently returned from deployment there last summer on board HMS Albion.

 “This opportunity to deploy on Ex Freezing Winds on RFA Mounts Bay supporting LRG(N) operations as part of the Finnish-led exercise will be a new challenge that we are looking forward to. 

“The training with 148 Battery and Finnish Forces will be a new experience and help to prove the interoperability between the UK and one of the recent members to join Nato.” 

The Royal Navy has a longstanding history of collaboration with the Finnish Navy and Baltic forces in the Joint Expeditionary Force—a coalition of ten nations. Together, they aim to maintain stability and security in the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea, and the High North.