Breathtaking British Defence Images of The Year: 2024

Ceremonial and Display

It has been a busy year for all branches of the Armed Forces, as they carried out ceremonies and displays, delivered humanitarian aid and continued to prepare for possible conflict with .

On the ceremonial front, we see His Majesty The King making his way to the Cenotaph during the National Service of Remembrance in London, where he was joined by veterans and around 10,000 members of the public who lined Whitehall in London. Also pictured some of the veterans – including former Chief of the Defence Staff General David Julian Richards (centre) and General Sir Richard Lawson Barrons (left) – wearing their distinctive bowler hats as they marched past.Other images show The Royal Carriage procession making its way down The Mall during heavy rain during the King’s Birthday Parade in London, and members of the Household Division, including the regimental Irish Wolfhound mascot Turlough Mor, are seen here making their way down The Mall.

On that day, a formation of three RAF Chinook helicopters from 7 Squadron took part in a flypast over London. The Red arrows can be seen fying with smoke on as they take part in a flypast over Montreal in Canada. The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team – famously known as the Red Arrows – can also be seen performing a mixed formation flypast over the coasts of Zadar and Biograd na Moru in Croatia, under the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) in Greenland and leaving a spectacular trail of red, white and blue as they fly over Big Ben.

On a more human front, a female member of the King’s Troop pos​es with her horse after undertaking ceremonial duties in London, a female Royal Navy Officer (and doggy helper) is shown fundraising at Charing Cross and a member of the Royal Air Force Falcon Display team lands after parachuting down at RAF Waddington.

Humanitarian

As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continued to unfold, the camera captured RAF personnel dropping vital aid pallets from the tail lift of an RAF A400 aircraft. Pallets of aid can be seen landing by parachute for those in need.

On Operations

AS geopolitical tensions build, frontline troops and their support teams can expect l​little respite in the near future.

The Royal Navy engaged against Houthi rebels in Yemen, when HMS Richmond became the first warship to fire Sea Ceptor missiles in combat as it downs Houthi drones. Striking image​s shows the crew on HMS Richmond’s operations room as the missiles were fired.

Keeping to a naval theme, the support vessel RFA Tidespring is shown, viewed from HMS Prince of Wales’ quarter deck, during ​a Nato exercise in Norway while, on another day, pre-flight checks are carried out on a F-35B aircraft engulfed by a perfectly formed rainbow whilst on HMS Prince of Wales deck.

In the air, a Merlin Mk4 helicopter of 845 NAS (Naval Air Squadrons) performs a snow landing whilst CFSG (Commando Forward Surgical Group) perform an Arctic Huddle in Norway, two RAF Typhoon FGR Mk 4 aircraft perform routine a mission over the Middle East as part of Operation Shader, and we are given a rare glimpse of what the co-pilot of a RAF Globemaster aircraft might see while wearing Night Vision Goggles.

On the ground, training for possible conflict intensified. We see soldiers from the British Army’s Royal School of Artillery putting the army’s newly-acquired Archer mobile Howitzer through its paces, as they fire 155mm shells during a training exercise in Sweden, and a Shore Reconnaissance Team (SRT) from Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS) conducting sensor training and patrolling techniques on Exercise Predators Run in Australia.

Soldiers of the Welsh Guards can be seen firing a 81mm mortar during training on Salisbury Plain, while members of 1 RGR (1st Bn The Royal Gurkha Rifles) traini for deployment across the Indo-Pacific region.

Last but not least is the the grimmed- face satisfaction of a Fusilier, taken shortly after he won one of the Army’s toughest promotion courses which takes place at the Otterburn Training Area. The soldier, who has not been named, was promoted to Lance Corporal with immediate effect.