The British Army are bringing back war horses in order to avoid detection by drones.

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and its soldiers have been experimenting with using the animals for covert trekking across harsh terrain for potential use in military operations.

The experiment has seen the horses make their way through difficult wooded ground, carrying soldiers through areas where traditional military vehicles might struggle to go or would be too loud.

Drones could easily spot and destroy armoured vehicles such as tanks from above, but horses are capable of moving stealthily.

Horses are also able to hide from thermal imaging technology because they emit a much lower infra-red heat signature compared to hot engines or tanks.

Lieutenant-Colonel Ben McNeil told the Times horses are more likely to be mistaken for wildlife while travelling through woodland with the threat of drones.

The British Army are considering bringing back war horses that can camouflage themselves in order to avoid detection by drones

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment and its soldiers have been experimenting with using horses for covert trekking across harsh terrain for potential use in military operations

He said: ‘A horse can move in a more natural profile than any armoured vehicle can. There’s a better chance of you getting from A to B with a horse than… with a Challenger 2 tank.’

The British Army revealed earlier this year that it was considering ‘bringing back the war horse’ as it looks for new ways to move troops across difficult terrain. 

The idea was partly inspired by around a dozen volunteers who formed a horse-mounted unit within the Estonian Defence League.

‘Their idea is simple but bold: in thick forests and boggy ground where heavy military vehicles get stuck, horses can go anywhere,’ an Army spokesman said.

‘They say horses can outperform armoured vehicles in certain tough terrains.

‘It sounds mad. But the British Army was listening. The lesson from Ukraine and the Middle East is clear: modern warfare demands creativity, adaptability and, sometimes, going back to basics.

‘If the terrain demands it, the cavalry will be ready.’

The horses began their first series of exercises over the summer and soldiers were taught first aid, basic farriery and conducted reconnaissance exercises on horses accustomed only to ceremonial duties. 

This week a second round of exercises commenced in the woods near Sandhurst, with two corporals leaving their sections and riding in. 

Lance Corporal Ben Chapman said: ‘We did a [series of exercises] seeing how close we could get with a horse, seeing how quickly they were spotted. They got within 150 metres.

‘They’re a lot more difficult to spot than you would think. Unfortunately some of the ceremonial brasses we would usually polish up caught the sun a bit. That can be easily rectified.’

The Army said horses had once been inseparable from soldiers before the arrival of modern military vehicles largely consigned them to history.

‘For hundreds of years, horses and soldiers were inseparable. From ancient battlefields to the muddy trenches of the First World War, the cavalry charged into history together.

The experiment has seen  horses make their way through wooded terrain while carrying soldiers through areas where  military vehicles might struggle to go or would be too loud

Drones could easily spot and destroy armoured vehicles such as tanks from above, but the horses are capable of moving stealthily

Members of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) during a briefing at a training ground at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS) in Camberley, Surrey

A horse fitted with a bespoke camouflage covering developed by Household Cavalry soldiers, Longmoor Training Area, Hampshire

‘Then came tanks, armoured vehicles and helicopters – and horses were left behind,’ it said. But here’s the thing: they might be making a comeback.’

But using horses on the modern battlefield would not be entirely unprecedented.

American special forces famously rode into battle in Afghanistan in 2001, just weeks after the September 11 terror attacks.

A 12-man team of Green Berets from the 5th Special Forces Group’s Operational Detachment Alpha 595 travelled on horseback across Afghanistan’s rugged terrain while fighting alongside local forces against the Taliban.

The mission marked the first time American troops had ridden horses into combat since 1942 and the men later became known as the ‘Horse Soldiers’.