The British Army is testing horses as a quiet, low-profile way to move soldiers through difficult terrain during the age of drone warfare. The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment believes horses could be harder to detect than armoured vehicles, particularly in woodland, where they produce less noise and a weaker infrared signature.

Trials have involved horses carrying troops through wooded areas and using bespoke camouflage coverings. The idea was partly influenced by a horse-mounted unit in Estonia and lessons from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East; a 12-man US Green Beret team also used horses in Afghanistan in 2001, the first such American combat deployment since 1942.