On 2 October 2026, the UK Ministry of Defence reported that allies from the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force had conducted Exercise Lion Protector 26, training across the North Atlantic, High North and Baltic Sea to protect critical national infrastructure, strengthen joint command and control and counter emerging threats. The release said hundreds of British personnel took part and that Royal Marines from the UK's Special Operations Maritime Task Group carried out the first exercise on the Faroe Islands since the Second World War, alongside Danish forces, including maritime interdictions, amphibious landings and vertical ascent training.

The same day, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting was due to meet JEF counterparts at a summit in Keflavik, Iceland, where ministers were to discuss Canada's application to join the JEF Framework, deeper cooperation on hybrid threats, industrial collaboration and support to Ukraine through the JEF-Ukraine Enhanced Partnership. Canadian and Ukrainian ministers were also expected to attend.

The release said Lion Protector began in August with a multinational maritime escort rehearsal along the Baltic Sea, and that the UK's Standing Joint Force Headquarters deployed north of the Arctic Circle in Norway. JEF comprises ten nations: the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.