Commandos Order Airstrikes From Royal Navy F-35s At Exercise Strike Warrior

Commandos have guided F-35 stealth fighters on a live bombing run during a major exercise in the North Sea.

Garvie Island – a rocky outcrop off Cape Wrath at the north-west tip of Scotland – was hit by four 500lb Paveway bombs, dropped by pilots from 809 Naval Air Squadron operating from HMS Prince of Wales and RAF 207 Squadron, based at RAF Marham.

UK Commando Force Special Observers, from 29 Commando Royal Artillery, fed live target information from their covert observation posts to the jets, providing powerful coordination between ground forces and the fifth-generation fighters.

The idea is to prove that Commandos operating deep behind enemy lines can, if needs be, call on aerial support from the F-35s to hit high-value targets, in this case important coastal defence in the shape of Garvie Island.

Having Commandos feeding information rapidly from the ground can aid faster decision-making and give better situational awareness for operation commanders in HMS Prince of Wales’ operations rooms.

Paveway bombs are laser-guided for use against well-protected targets and can be controlled either from the aircraft itself or by ground-based observers.

This is where the expert Commando observers come in, guiding the bomb onto its target.

The uninhabited granite outcrop of Garvie Island is used as the target due to indestructability and its resemblance (ish) to a major warship – it’s roughly the same width and length as a capital ship.

During the Paveway bombing runs, naval gunfire also rained down from the UK Carrier Strike Group’s warships, which include HMS Dauntless, HMS Portland and HMS Iron Duke.

The UK Carrier Strike Group with HMS Prince of Wales as its focal point is off the coast of Scotland to carry out Exercise Strike Warrior – military drills that will confirm that the task force is ready for operations.

It is all in preparation for the Carrier Strike Group 25 deployment, which will send British warships, support vessels and jets across the world on the first mission of its kind since HMS Queen Elizabeth led a 49,000-mile mission to Japan and back in 2021.

To read more, please visit the Royal Navy's website.