29-05-2025
Army announce three large scale exercises at Castlemartin
The Royal Tank Regiment Battlegroup will kick off the exercises from June 9 to June 27, followed by the Queen's Royal Hussars Battlegroup from October 13 to November 7.
The Royal Welsh Battlegroup will conclude the exercises from November 17 to December 5.
The exercises are crucial for the units involved, providing vital training for the Royal Tank Regiment, the Queen's Royal Hussars, and the Royal Welsh.
The Royal Tank Regiment, the oldest tank unit in the world, and the Queen's Royal Hussars, the British Army's senior armoured regiment, both operate the Challenger 2 main battle tank.
The Royal Welsh is an armoured infantry regiment with roots dating back to 1689.
Castlemartin Training Area is large enough for live-firing, tactical battlegroup-level exercises involving multiple armoured fighting vehicles.
It plays a key role in maintaining full training capability for units within the UK.
The exercises will see the training area used by hundreds of personnel and require the transportation of numerous heavy vehicles, including Challenger 2 tanks, to and from the area.
This will begin during the preparation phase, approximately a week prior to the start of each exercise, and may cause some travel delays to local traffic.
The exercises will also involve live firing from Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm and night firing on Monday to Thursday between 8pm and 3am.
These times are the earliest and latest that firing can take place and on some days it is expected that firing will not take place for these full times.
Disturbances to local residents will be kept to a minimum and firing times will be published widely within the local community to help minimise disruption.
Senior training safety officer for Castlemartin, Major John Poole, said: "Castlemartin Training Area provides essential training opportunities for large scale exercises, such as this, which support the training of military personnel from multiple units.
"We remain grateful to the local population for their continued support."
The public can find out more about the exercise by visiting the UK Government website and searching Castlemartin firing notices.
