British armour and airborne forces on joint training

Infantry and heavy armour forces have come together to practise for urban operations, say the British Army.

3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment has joined forces with the Challenger 2 main battle tanks of The Queen’s Royal Hussars for Exercise Green Citadel.

The paratroopers practised using tanks for protection and fire support while fighting street-by-street and building-by-building through the mock village at Copehill Down on Salisbury Plain according to the MoD.

3 PARA’s Major Dave Mans said:

“This has been a really productive experience and the more training we can do in different environments and working alongside different capabilities, such as armour, the better. It makes us much more flexible and able to deal with any operation we could be faced with. As an airborne unit, theatre entry is our speciality but we could see armour arriving quickly on an operation and we have to know how to work alongside them.”

Lance Corporal James Porter said:

“This has been very real training, as urban operations closely relate to the warfare we’re seeing around the world now and what we could be called on to do. Working with tanks is something very different for us and we are relishing the challenge. It’s been interesting to see how we could fight together; we’re all soldiers and there’s a mutual respect for each other’s skills.”

Trooper David Yendell, a Challenger 2 operator with Paderborn-based QRH, said:

“It’s been very interesting and valuable to train in a close urban environment with the paratroopers. In a tank rolling along a city street we’re a huge target, and infantry can protect us by keeping the enemy at a distance as much as we give them cover – we’ve all got each other’s backs.”

Imagery and quotes courtesy of the MoD.