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The eyes and ears of the British Army's rapid reaction force have been put through their paces on a demanding training exercise in Italy.
Exercise Eagles Eye saw 16 Air Assault Brigade troops, who specialise in reconnaissance, work alongside the Italian Brigata Paracadutisti Folgore. The aim of the training was to test the full range of Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities and share techniques and tactics with their Italian counterparts.
The exercise built up to a simultaneous parachute drop near Siena and helicopter assault on a strongpoint in Monte Romano, near Rome. Advance forces had secured and marked the drop and landing zones, checked the routes off and carried out surveillance of the strongpoint to identify targets to be hit by air and artillery strikes.
Units taking part included D Squadron Household Cavalry Regiment (D Sqn HCR), 5th Regiment Royal Artillery, 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault), 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment and Pathfinders. All provide soldiers for the Air Assault Task Force (AATF), which is ready to deploy anywhere in the world at short notice to conduct the full spectrum of military operations, from non-combatant evacuation operations to warfighting.