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British Marines Enhance NATO Arctic Readiness with Mobile Mortar Drills Using Viking and BV206 Vehicles.
On 11 February 2026, the Royal British Marines conducted live 81mm mortar fire missions in Northern Norway using Viking and BV206 all-terrain vehicles during intensive Arctic rehearsals. The drills underscore how the UK is adapting commando fire support for NATO’s renewed deterrence posture in the High North.
Operating deep inside the Arctic Circle on 11 February 2026, Royal British Marines fired 81mm mortar salvos from Viking and BV206 tracked vehicles as part of winter mission rehearsals in Northern Norway. The live fire serials emphasized a mobile approach to indirect fire, with teams displacing rapidly across snow-covered terrain rather than establishing prolonged static firing points. British defense officials have repeatedly highlighted Norway as a core training ground for cold-weather warfare, and this evolution in tactics reflects lessons drawn from recent NATO exercises focused on Arctic reinforcement. By pairing lightweight mortars with articulated over-snow mobility platforms, the commandos demonstrated how fire support can remain responsive even where roads are scarce and visibility is limited.
Royal Marines conducted live 81mm mortar fire from Viking and BV206 tracked vehicles in Arctic Norway, demonstrating mobile commando fire support tailored for NATO operations in the High North (Picture Source: Royal British Marines)
The firing took place as the UK deployed around 1,500 Commandos to the Arctic Circle as part of NATO efforts on the Alliance’s northern flank. After Defence Secretary John Healey visited the UK’s Camp Viking in Øverbygd and signalled a stronger British focus in the region, marines moved into mountainous terrain near Moen, more than 200 miles inside the Arctic Circle, to fire their mortar weaponry under Arctic conditions.
The central operational point is how the fire support was delivered. The Royal Navy report states that mortar troops delivered their fire from Viking and BV206 all-terrain vehicles and, crucially, that they used these vehicles as platforms to launch salvos, while also moving rapidly across deep snow from one location to another. This matters because it ties the mortar detachment’s survivability to movement: rather than treating the firing point as a semi-fixed “gun line,” the teams rehearse a cycle of short fire missions followed by displacement, which reduces the time a firing signature remains tied to a single location.
That approach reflects a broader modern reality for mortar units: static firing points can be detected and targeted quickly, increasing the value of rapid displacement. By integrating mortars with light tracked mobility, the teams can maintain support to advancing troops and then shift position in a way that complicates an adversary’s ability to build an accurate picture of where fires are coming from. In Arctic terrain, where tracks in snow can persist and concealment options may be constrained, reducing predictability becomes an operational advantage rather than a stylistic choice.
The mortar itself remains a relevant battlegroup-level tool because it delivers fast, high-angle fires without the logistical footprint of heavier artillery. The Royal Navy report highlights an output of around 15 shells per minute, with rounds leaving the barrel at roughly 500 mph and reaching targets out to about 3.5 miles. UK Army-published specifications for the 81mm mortar list a maximum range of 5,650 m, muzzle velocity of 225 m/s, and weapon weight of 35.3 kg, reinforcing why it suits rapid fire missions such as suppression, smoke, and illumination in degraded visibility, effects that become especially valuable in winter conditions and complex terrain.
The vehicle layer is what converts responsiveness into a practical manoeuvre-support function in Arctic conditions. BvS 10 Viking and Bandvagn 206 are engineered for terrain where wheeled fleets rapidly lose mobility, combining articulated steering, wide rubber tracks and very low ground pressure to cross muskeg, deep snow, frozen waterways and broken rock while carrying crews, ammunition and baseplates. In this environment, mortar detachments can remain embedded with forward elements rather than operating from distant, road-bound gun lines. The result is a form of close, persistent indirect fire that mirrors the tempo of the units it supports, even when visibility, weather and ground conditions complicate navigation and command and control.
Both platforms offer characteristics that directly shape how an 81 mm mortar section can fight. Viking, protected against small arms and shell splinters, provides higher payload margins, modern communications fits and the capacity to transport ammunition stocks that sustain repeated fire missions before resupply, while its amphibious capability in many configurations expands the geometry of possible firing areas. The lighter BV206, though typically unarmoured, remains notable for its exceptional mobility-to-weight ratio and its ability to insert teams into narrow approaches, forest tracks or frozen corridors inaccessible to heavier systems. In analytical terms, the key benefit is not maximum road speed but freedom of movement: crews can select firing points away from predictable routes, deliver effects, then displace quickly to alternate positions, complicating enemy counter-battery calculations while ensuring that indirect fire remains continuously available to the manoeuvre force.
The Royal Navy frames the activity as part of a build-up to Cold Response 26 (9–19 March), described as NATO’s largest Arctic drill of the year, involving around 25,000 troops from 14 nations operating across northern Norway and Finland in a scenario focused on regional defence in the event of an invasion. The same reporting links the deployment to plans for a stronger British presence in the region, UK participation in NATO’s Arctic Sentry mission, and Joint Expeditionary Force activity, including Exercise Lion Protector in September 2026, focused on protecting critical national infrastructure and improving joint command and control. Healey’s remarks in the Royal Navy report place the activity in a threat-driven context, citing Russia as the greatest challenge to Arctic and High North security since the Cold War and pointing to renewed Russian military activity in the region.
The Moen live-firing illustrates an Arctic-ready model of indirect fire where the mortar team is trained to be mobile by design, not mobile as an afterthought. By launching salvos from Viking and BV206 vehicles and then using those same platforms to relocate rapidly across deep snow, the Royal Marines rehearsed a method intended to preserve fire support while reducing the risks that come with static firing points under modern surveillance and counter-fire conditions. In a High North environment shaped by distance, harsh climate, and intensifying strategic competition, that integration of mortar effects and tracked manoeuvre is a practical indicator of how the UK intends to contribute to NATO readiness and deterrence in the region.
Written by Teoman S. Nicanci – Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group
Teoman S. Nicanci holds degrees in Political Science, Comparative and International Politics, and International Relations and Diplomacy from leading Belgian universities, with research focused on Russian strategic behavior, defense technology, and modern warfare. He is a defense analyst at Army Recognition, specializing in the global defense industry, military armament, and emerging defense technologies.