A Gunner of 32 Battery, 16 Regiment Royal Artillery checks the components of a Rapier Air Defence System prior to its use on Exercise Capable Eagle.
The Royal Artillery were supporting the Royal Air Force as part of a large scale exercise that saw aircraft deployed at a Yorkshire airfield operating across Scotland and Northern England.
With more than forty years of service, the Rapier ground-to-air missile system is a key element of the air defence umbrella of any RAF deployed operating base. While the RAF Regiment and RAF Police use their specialist knowledge to defend UK air forces from ground attack, it falls to the Royal Artillery to provide a point defence against air attack.