The military organisation is known for some daring missions in its history like the Iranian Embassy Siege in 1980.
Here are five recent missions that the SAS has been involved in during the 2020s.
Operation Northern Sentinel
In winter 2025/2026, the SAS’s G Squadron was deployed to Estonia and Latvia.
This was part of Operation Northern Sentinel, a counter-sabotage mission in the Baltic region.
The mission was in response to escalating hybrid warfare threats.
The UK special forces worked with local security services to identify and neutralise sabotage cells targeting energy infrastructure.
By January 2026, high-value intelligence assets attempting to cross the Narva border were detained.
Sudan evacuation mission
In April 2023, during the outbreak of civil war in Sudan, SAS operators took part in a high-risk night-time evacuation.
British diplomats and their families were rescued from Khartoum.
The mission was approved by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after a COBR meeting.
A team of elite Royal Marines, SAS, and RAF operatives flew into the capital aboard an American military aircraft.
They navigated through active fighting and multiple checkpoints to reach the British diplomats and their families.
The group was then driven 18 miles to an airfield where RAF transport planes evacuated them to safety.
Ukraine deployments
Throughout 2022 and 2023, SAS personnel were reportedly deployed to Ukraine on multiple occasions.
Their mission was to train Ukrainian special forces and support sabotage and reconnaissance operations against Russian forces.
Leaked US military documents from early 2023 suggested that the UK had deployed around 50 special forces personnel, including the SAS, to Ukraine.
This was more than half of all Western special forces in the country at that time.
Red Sea coastal raids
In late 2025, SAS and SBS teams conducted coastal raids against Houthi command and control centres in Yemen.
These were part of ongoing efforts to counter Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The operations were “boots on the ground” missions, distinct from US airstrikes.
They aimed to secure sensitive guidance technology used in anti-ship missiles.
The missions resulted in the disruption of drone supply lines and the recovery of Iranian-manufactured missile components for analysis.
Domestic counter-terror operations
On the home front, SAS troopers have been deployed to support domestic counter-terrorism operations in recent years.
In October 2020, British Special Forces boarded and took control of the oil tanker Nave Andromeda off the Isle of Wight after seven stowaways made verbal threats to the crew.
In November 2021, SAS operators assisted with raids in Liverpool following the taxi cab blast outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
These operations underscore the SAS’s continued role in the UK’s “Black Role” of domestic counter-terrorism and hostage rescue.