Against a backdrop of tensions with Argentina, the British army trains to “reconquer” the Falklands

The question of sovereignty of the Falkland Islands has torn Argentina and the United Kingdom apart for decades. Already fragile, relations between the two countries have further deteriorated since the end of the summer. In early September, Argentine President Javier Milei welcomed “winds of change” in Argentina’s favor, after Donald Trump suggested that the United States could review its position on the Falklands. London responded that its commitment to the islands was “absolute and unwavering”, and that they would remain British for as long as their inhabitants wished.

In this tense context, the British media including the Daily Mail and The Times reported on Tuesday the holding of a military exercise in the Falklands. British soldiers, accompanied by local reservists, took part in “Exercise Cape Upholder”, a six-day training session aimed at simulating the invasion, defense and recapture of this coveted territory.

Skip the ad

Amphibious landings simulated for the first time in several years

According to the Daily Mail, the exercise mobilized around 150 soldiers and around a hundred reservists, who landed on beaches, walked around thirty kilometers at night and simulated assaults against enemy positions, reenacting certain battles from 1982. British defense sources assure that it had been planned for a long time. Cape Upholder is also a recurring exercise, which ends each rotation of the infantry company stationed on the archipelago.

An operation which, without being trivial, takes place regularly. London has been organizing exercises in the Falklands since 1982, once or twice a year according to the British Foreign Office, which describes them as routine. They gave rise to repeated protests from Argentina. Buenos Aires denounced this military presence in a territory it considers illegally occupied, through notes addressed to the British embassy and the UN.

However, according to the Daily Mail, these latest military exercises would be the first to simulate amphibious landings in several years. A technique which consists of disembarking soldiers transported by ship on territory held by the enemy. It was the one that allowed British forces to retake the archipelago in 1982, with the landing of San Carlos, from May 21 to 23.