British Army fires next-gen weapon for first time in one of Nato's largest EVER artillery exercises

The live firing came as part of Exercise Lightning Strike - itself, part of Dynamic Front 25 - and just 70 miles from the Russian border.

In total, 3,600 soldiers, including around 1,250 international troops from the alliance, are set to be involved in the war drills taking place near Rovaniemi in Finland.

Of these thousands, around 350 soldiers will be deployed by the British Army.

The MoD has hailed the howitzer exercises as an opportunity to "reinforce the Government's 'Nato first' defence strategy which has seen it set European security as its defence priority".

Rovajarvi, the Lapland firing range and training area where the Royal Artillery has been conducting the exercises, is the largest in Europe.

Finnish Colonel Janne Makitalo said: "The area itself is the reason why allies want to come to the Rovajarvi exercise area to train."

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It allows for "multi-sided tactical fire exchanges for field artillery" while training personnel how to handle the challenging conditions and terrain of the Arctic, Makitalo added.

While British Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said: "The successful live firing of the powerful Archer Mobile Howitzer shows we are equipping our Armed Forces with the latest battle-winning weaponry to help keep the UK secure at home and strong abroad.

"This joint exercise reiterates our unshakeable commitment to Nato and demonstrates our collective readiness to meet emerging threats and deter aggression across Europe."

This is the first time Finland has hosted a major international military exercise since Nato's 31st member in April 2023, a little over a year after Vladimir Putin launched his so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Joining the bloc ended decades of Finnish neutrality - and more than doubled the length of Nato's land border with Russia, having previously only touched the country in Norway and the Baltics.

Finland had upheld a strictly non-aligned status since the end of World War II so it could maintain cordial relations with Russia - but abandoned this after the Ukraine war started.