Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS), based in Fort George, Inverness, undertook training in Latvia on the Army’s latest uncrewed systems and Artificial Intelligence technology.
Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) undertake a raid side by side with Latvian forces, in the Latvian woods, on Italian and Canadian forces.
3 SCOTS demonstrating their capabilities as an infantry battalion of the British Army in Latvia on Exercise Tarassis.
Soldiers from 3 SCOTS treat a simulated casualty during a raid side by side with Latvian forces, in the Latvian woods, on Italian and Canadian forces.
3 SCOTS demonstrating their capabilities as an infantry battalion using an unmanned resupply vehicle during Exercise Tarassis in Latvia.
Soldiers from 3 SCOTS undertake a raid side by side with Latvian forces, in the Latvian woods, on Italian and Canadian forces.
3 SCOTS demonstrating their capabilities as an infantry battalion of the British Army in Latvia on Exercise Tarassis.
3 SCOTS, an infantry battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Rob Smith, is under command of 11 Brigade, the Land Special Operations Force’s fighting formation which is at the cutting edge of Army modernisation.
"Exercise Forest Guardian covers a number of domains; maritime, air and land. 3 SCOTS are effectively working with forward land forces as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force framework. This not only seeks to see 3 SCOTS integrate with the Latvian forces but also to practice our own ability to fight on the land."
11 Brigade Headquarters and 3 SCOTS Battlegroup deployed on Exercise Tarassis 2025 to demonstrate the British Army’s ability to project credible and capable forces undergoing rapid warfighting modernisation. Their participation formed part of the land component, reinforcing support to NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).
This deployment was the first milestone in the rapid modernisation of 11 Brigade, as it seeks to increase its own and the Army’s lethality.
Exercise Tarassis is a large-scale, multidomain rehearsal that shows how the JEF can respond rapidly to a crisis that threatens peace and prosperity in northeast Europe. JEF offers a theatre wide response that is coordinated, adaptable, and fully complementary to NATO plans.
Exercise Forest Guardian, a component of Exercise Tarassis, saw the Brigade transition from a formation fighting a ground battle with near surface support to one fighting from and in the near surface – using the new systems and technology to gain advantage on the battlefield alongside NATO allies and the UK’s global partners.
"Practicing our core purpose alongside a key partner in the region, namely Latvia, and one that is geopolitically relevant given the actions of various adversaries in the region will enhance our ability to deliver our core purpose."
This included 3 SCOTS integrating with Latvian partners (4th Latvian Brigade), conducting defensive operations against a simulated threat during a crisis-conflict phase with industry partners deployed alongside them.
Lieutenant Colonel Rob Smith, Commanding Officer 3 SCOTS said:
“Exercise Forest Guardian covers a number of domains; maritime, air and land. 3 SCOTS are effectively working with forward land forces as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force framework. This not only seeks to see 3 SCOTS integrate with the Latvian forces but also to practice our own ability to fight on the land.”
He added:
“Latvia is a member of the Joint Expeditionary Force, and it is important we are exercising with them both as a key partner nation and due to their geographical location.
"The Army is going through a modernisation agenda and one of the things we are seeing as part of that is the ability to integrate industry led capabilities alongside our forces, what I loosely term as a technician working alongside a tactician."
“The British Army’s core purpose is to fight and win wars on and from the land and as an infantry battalion within an infantry brigade we need to be able to do that. Practising our core purpose alongside a key partner in the region, namely Latvia, and one that is geopolitically relevant given the actions of various adversaries in the region will enhance our ability to deliver our core purpose.”
Two main industry partners worked alongside 3 SCOTS, deploying technical specialists to deliver hands-on training to soldiers. The instruction focused on the operational use of advanced systems including Cobalt, ARX, Viking, DSA, Menace-T, and Ghost X, enhancing the unit’s capability across a range of tactical and technological domains.
Lieutenant Colonel Rob Smith stated:
“The Army is going through a modernisation agenda and one of the things we are seeing as part of that is the ability to integrate industry led capabilities alongside our forces, what I loosely term as a technician working alongside a tactician.”
"We have seen the use of cobalt command and control systems that allow us to better link sensors to an effector decision making cycle, making it quicker and more compressed which means you can have a quicker and greater effects on an adversary in a training scenario."
“What that looks like is an industry expert from two of the companies we are working with working alongside our Jocks - technical experts training our soldiers.”
“We have seen the use of cobalt command and control systems that allow us to better link sensors to an effector decision making cycle, making it quicker and more compressed which means you can have a quicker and greater effects on an adversary in a training scenario.”
“It also means you get to see and put kit into the hands of the Jocks to make that experience real.”
Modernising technology in the British Army is enhancing its lethality and soldiers’ ability to respond to adversaries.
British Army 2025: A year of excellence and innovation
