Draft article: Marco Suttie 2026-08-25 13:11

THE MOD is planning on using a Scottish island as a base during a NATO live-fire military exercise. The MOD has applied for temporary planning permission to site modular cabins at West Camp on the Isle of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides, to provide welfare, meeting, reception and security facilities for NATO’s ‘Formidable Shield’ military exercise, which returns to Hebridean waters in 2027. NATO describes Formidable Shield as the largest live-fire naval exercise in Europe, focused on integrated air and missile defence and on the ability of allied navies, air forces and ground units to operate together. Previous exercises have been led by the US Sixth Fleet with Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, and have run every two years since 2015, splitting between the Andøya range in Norway and