A FLEET of Royal Air Force helicopters take off from Keevil Airfield in a fearsome show of rotary power.

British and French paratroopers are training side-by-side as part of the six-week Exercise Wessex Storm which ends on Saturday (December 12).

The RAF helicopters under the command of Joint Helicopter Command lifted troops, vehicles and supplies to the Salisbury Plain battleground.

Chinook and Puma helicopters from RAF Benson and RAF Odiham, escorted by the sensors and weapons of Army Air Corps Wildcat reconnaissance helicopters and Apache attack helicopters, delivered waves of assault troops to capture a base at Imber Village near Warminster.

Exercise Wessex Storm saw the British Army's airborne and armoured reaction forces come together, with the fast and light forces of 16 Air Assault Brigade training with slower but more powerful troops from 12 Armoured Infantry Brigade.

A 1,300-strong multinational force of 2 Para Battlegroup 16 Air Assault Brigade captured the remote location for further missions.