AIRBORNE gunners worked with Royal Air Force helicopters to demonstrate their specialist ability to fire and manoeuvre in the sky.

Colchester-based 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery carried out a battery raid on Salisbury Plain, with seven 105mm light guns and the soldiers who fire them lifted between positions by three Chinook and four Puma helicopters.

7 Para RHA Commanding Officer Lt Col Justin Baker said: “For both the gunners on the ground and the aircrew in the helicopters this has been a hugely complex task, requiring a lot of effort and co-ordination.

“To be able to work at this scale, which we haven’t done for a few years, has meant we’ve really polished our skills and learnt a lot about how we can work together on air manoeuvre operations.”

The raid took place as part of Exercise Cypher Strike, which has seen the full range of Para skills tested over three weeks.

Lt Col Baker said: “It’s been fantastic, well-resourced training that has taken us away from day-to-day business to really concentrate on our core artillery skills and think about how we can fight as a regiment.”