2 PARA testing skills at Wessex Storm
Across three days of high tempo activity on both the ground and in the air, the 2 PARA Battlegroup has launched on the final mission of Exercise Wessex Storm. Fighting against a free-thinking enemy force on Salisbury Plain, the mission lets the paratroopers show their skills and readiness for short notice operations around the world. British, French and American paratroopers have given a powerful demonstration of how they can go side-by-side into battle by air.
Some 20 helicopters carried the 1,300-strong 2 PARA Battlegroup into action on Friday 4 December on Exercise Wessex Storm. Mounting at Keevil airfield on Salisbury Plain, troops, vehicles and stores were lifted by Royal Air Force Chinook and Puma support helicopters, protected by the sensors and weapons of Army Air Corps Wildcat reconnaissance helicopters and Apache attack helicopters. The multinational force was dropped off to assault Imber village, capturing it to use as a base for further missions on the windswept training area.
47 Air Dispatch Squadron, 13 Air Assault Support Regiment drop stores onto Salisbury Plain in support of 2 Para Battlegroup. 
US Paratroopers from 173rd Airborne Combat Brigade parachute as part of a 2 Para led Battlegroup. 
US Paratroopers from 173rd Airborne Combat Brigade parachute as part of a 2 Para led Battlegroup. 
Apache attack helicopters provide over watch support to 2 Para led Battlegroup as they move onto their objective. 
Puma from 33 sqn at RAF Benson returning to base after Ex Wessex Storm. 
Formation of RAF Puma from 33 Sqn at RAF Benson.
The training is about confirming the 2 PARA Battlegroup’s skills and readiness to serve as the lead infantry unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade, the British Army’s global response force. Some 150 troops from the French 2e Régiment Etranger de Parachutistes and a 40-strong platoon from the US Army’s 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment are taking part. Their involvement is about growing understanding of each other’s capabilities and tactics, meaning our airborne forces are better prepared to operate together on future operations.
Today’s mission – the largest British-led air assault since Operation Moshtarak in Afghanistan in February 2010 – comes as the six-week long manoeuvres (2 Nov-12 Dec) reach their validation phase. The Battlegroup is being challenged to beat back the invasion of an ally by a hostile neighbour, fighting both conventional military units and militia-type forces. Before launching the air assault, troops had parachuted in to capture Keevil, with additional personnel, stores and vehicles delivered by RAF and French Armee de l’Air A400M transport aircraft.
Sergeant Callum Miller cuts a quad bike from its packaging after its landing, after being delivered by air, dropped from a C130 by 47 Air Dispatch Squadron, 13 Air Assault Support Regiment RLC. 
Troops from 63 Air Assault Support Squadron, 13 Air Assault Support Regiment unpack pallets of Ammunition, that have just landed on the drop zone. The Ammo was dropped from a C130 by 47 Air Dispatch Squadron in support of 2 Para Battlegroup. 
Specialist Cody Kennedy of the US 173rd Airborne Combat Brigade pulls his parachute from gorse bushes after a prickly landing on Salisbury Plain, during Exercise Wessex Storm. 
Engineers from the 2 Para led Battlegroup repair a small section of damaged runway on Keevil Airfield, prior to British and French A400s arriving during Exercise Wessex Storm. 
A French paratrooper looks in as another wave of 2 Para led Battlegroup troops approach via helicopter. 
A French Paratrooper takes aim while taking on the enemy during Exercise Wessex Storm. 
A member on 2 Para looks into the camera as his section make a plan to close in an attack the enemy, as night falls during Exercise Wessex Storm. British and French troops arrive safely onto Salisbury Plain, after being delivered to battle by RAF Chinooks, during Exercise Wessex Storm. 
British troops from 2 Para led Battlegroup wait for their turn to launch against the enemy as night falls during Exercise Wessex Storm.
The 2 PARA Battlegroup is built around the paratroopers of Colchester-based 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, supported by signallers, engineers, artillery, medics and logistics specialists from 16 Air Assault Brigade. It is training to be ready to deploy at short notice on operations around the world.
British Army News Release – photo: Crown copyright 2020
