Typhoon fighters flew simulated close air support for infantry assaulting enemy positions during Exercise Cape Upholder in the Falkland Islands, an exercise that closed out the latest roulement infantry company rotation, the Ministry of Defence stated.

The exercise ran from 29 June to 3 July and brought together the 5th Battalion, The Rifles, the Falkland Islands Defence Force and 1435 Flight, the Typhoon detachment within 905 Expeditionary Air Wing.

According to the department, the multi-phase exercise involved live firing from mortars, snipers and machine guns, along with a section attack to take key enemy positions supported by the Typhoons overhead.

Four Typhoon FGR4 aircraft from 1435 Flight hold round-the-clock quick reaction alert covering the airspace over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The flight is the smallest fast jet unit in the RAF and is stationed at RAF Mount Pleasant on East Falkland.

Its aircraft carry individual names rather than squadron markings, a practice dating to the unit’s origins defending Malta during the Second World War, where its aircraft were named Faith, Hope, Charity and Desperation. These were, of course, not Spitfires, apologies to our readers for my earlier suggestion they were.

The roulement infantry company is the standing British Army presence on the islands, drawn from a different unit on each rotation and typically deployed for around six months. Its role covers ground defence of Mount Pleasant and the wider infrastructure, along with training across the islands’ terrain, and exercises of this kind are usually run as the outgoing company hands over.

The Falkland Islands Defence Force is the islands’ own volunteer unit, recruited locally and funded by the Falkland Islands Government rather than the Ministry of Defence. It trains alongside British forces and would form part of the ground defence in a crisis.

British Forces South Atlantic Islands is the joint command covering the region, operating Typhoons, A400M and Voyager aircraft, the infantry company and air defence at Mount Pleasant, alongside HMS Medway on the South Atlantic Patrol Task.

The garrison has been maintained continuously since 1982, when the islands were retaken following the Argentine invasion. Argentina continues to claim the territory and raises the question annually at the United Nations, while the British position rests on the 2013 referendum in which islanders voted by 1,513 votes to three to remain a British Overseas Territory.

Photography from the exercise was taken by Corporal James Braithwaite.