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Royal Air Force officer on Tuesday became the first active-duty service pilot from the United Kingdom to take to the skies in a Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). RAF Squadron Leader Steve Long piloted BF-2, the second short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) F-35B, over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., logging the aircraft's 18th mission.  Long departed at 9:55 a.m. EST and flew the aircraft to 20,000 feet, before landing 1.3 hours later. Both the RAF and the Royal Navy plan to operate the F-35B. "Flying the F-35 was exactly like the...

British soldiers are to be given a powerful new U.S.-made rifle to take on Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence has spent £1.5million on 440 Sharpshooter semi-automatic rifles, which use 7.62mm ammunition that can kill at up to 900yards. The order follows concern that the Army's standard issue SA80 A2 assault rifle, which fires smaller 5.56mm bullets, is less effective because its 'kill' range is limited to around 300yards.

KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Jan. 14, 2010 – Army Spc. Robert Sumner looks like any other American soldier. But when he speaks, his thick British accent separates him from the crowd. Army Spc. Robert Sumner, a native of Birmingham, England, and a British army veteran, now serves with the U.S. Army at Forward Operation Base Joyce in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Teddy Wade, 55th Signal Company   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Serving here with the 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, Sumner realizes his road from the British Isles to the mountains...

Four American soldiers and one British soldier have been killed in two separate explosions in southern Afghanistan. The dead soldiers, who were serving under NATO's International Security Assistance Force, were killed on Sunday, NATO said in a statement Monday. The US soldiers died following an improvised explosive device strike, the statement said without giving more details. Meanwhile, a British soldier was killed in another roadside bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, according to British forces. The British soldier, from 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment, died after the blast hit a foot patrol in Helmand province. Regarding US casualties in Afghanistan,...

A Taliban bomb claimed both his legs, but it couldn’t take away Sapper Gregg Stevenson’s courage. The 24-year-old stunned doctors by learning to walk on artificial limbs within two weeks. In February the 6ft 4in former rugby player will return to duty, ten months after the attack. And yesterday he insisted that his next goal is to go back to Afghanistan when his comrades from the 24 Commando Engineer Regiment return later in the year. His inspiring story emerged as it was confirmed that a sixth Army bomb disposal expert has been killed while trying to defuse IEDs (improvised explosive...

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — British and American soldiers soon could be hard to tell apart if the U.S. Army adopts a camouflage pattern similar to one that the British have already picked out to conceal their troops in Afghanistan. U.S. soldiers with 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment in eastern Afghanistan are wearing new uniforms featuring the "MultiCam" camouflage pattern as part of a trial conducted by the Army to determine the best way to help troops blend in with their environment. Last week the British Ministry of Defence announced that its troops would soon start wearing a new uniform with a...

The family of a British soldier has learned 65 years after his death in World War II that he sacrificed himself to save 20 French children. The town of Annezin, France, plans to name a road after Robert Key, the Coventry Telegraph reported. While a British investigation ruled Key died showing off with a grenade, relatives now know he had always been regarded as a hero in Annezin.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2009 – More than 1,000 International Security Assistance Force troops are partnering with Afghan forces to begin a large-scale operation in northern Helmand province. About 900 U.S. Marines and sailors and British forces began partnering today with 150 Afghan soldiers and police to start Operation Khareh Cobra, or Cobra’s Anger, to clear insurgent forces in the Now Zad valley. Marines from 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 7 and 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion are partnered with Afghan army and police. The forces began helicopter and ground operations in the Now Zad valley early this morning. Now...

British Army officer, Lieutenant Paddy Rice, has been described as "the luckiest soldier in Afghanistan" after surviving being shot by a Taliban sniper. video at link

UK troops could be withdrawn from Germany if the Tories win power, the shadow defence secretary has said. Liam Fox said maintaining the current presence of more than 20,000 was "no longer necessary". Other Nato member states should take up the UK's responsibilities in Germany, allowing British troops to deploy elsewhere, he told the Daily Telegraph. The Ministry of Defence says the number of forces personnel in Germany has fallen and is under constant review. "Following the Cold War, we've drawn down our troops in Germany to reflect the changed strategic context. The UK always looks to share responsibility proportionally...

The Queen today lead the annual ceremony for Britain's war dead in the first Remembrance Sunday not attended by any veterans of World War I. As Big Ben chimed 11am, the queen joined thousands of troops, veterans and civilians in the traditional two-minute silence. The silence was broken by a single artillery blast and the sound of the Royal Marine buglers playing the 'Last Post'. Each year, thousands of poppies are placed in the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey to remember all those killed by the war. This year the field also has plots dedicated to those killed in...

The grieving mother of a heroic Sergeant-Major gunned down by a rogue Afghan policeman has accused Labour of treating British troops like 'peasants'. Heartbroken Elizabeth Chant, whose son Darren was killed last week, is calling on the Government to invest in better accommodation. Warrant Officer Class 1 'Daz' Chant, 40, of 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, was one of five off-duty British soldiers shot dead last Tuesday by a man dressed in an Afghan police uniform who opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle at a police station in southern Afghanistan. Mrs Chant, 59, said: 'Every day now we are hearing...

Soldier Becomes New Miss England [Pic in URL] Lance Corporal Katrina Hodge has become the new Miss England after Rachel Christie stepped down following her arrest over an alleged nightclub brawl. 06 Nov 2009 Katrina Hodge, centre, is now Miss England after Rachel Christie, right, lost her crown after being involved in a brawl with Miss Manchester Sara Beverley Jones, left, in a nightclub. A statement from Miss England organisers said Miss Christie, 21, had stepped down as she wanted to concentrate on clearing her name. It was later announced that L/Cpl Hodge, who was first runner-up in the 2009...

Three Grenadier Guards and two Royal Military Police were attacked as they rested inside a compound. The soldiers, who had removed their body armour and helmets, were shot by an Afghan national policeman who then fled. It is not known whether he was a member of the Taliban or being coerced by the insurgents. The gunman is thought to go by the name Gulbuddin and is believed to have had an accomplice. There are also suggestions that he had animosity towards his superiors after being repeatedly moved around the country as part of his duties. He is now being hunted...

Five soldiers have been shot dead by a "rogue" Afghan policeman in an attack at a police checkpoint. Three Grenadier Guards and two Royal Military Police were attacked as they rested inside a compound. The soldiers, who had removed their body armour and helmets, were shot by an Afghan national policeman who then fled. It is not known whether he was a member of the Taliban or being coerced by the insurgents.

The youngest soldier to win the George Cross has criticised Gordon Brown for ‘betraying’ the Armed Forces and revealed he now works in a call centre, selling insurance. ‘My medal says I am a hero of the Iraqi conflict, a man of extraordinary valour and strength of character,’ says Chris Finney. ‘But now I work in a call centre. My life has gone from one extreme to the other.’ At 18, he won Britain’s highest civil accolade for rescuing a wounded comrade from a burning Scimitar armoured vehicle. If his courage had been in response to an attack by the...

The most senior British soldier to die in Afghanistan foreshadowed his own death by warning that a shortage of helicopters was endangering troops. Less than a month before he was killed by a roadside bomb, Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe told his superiors that soldiers would die because they were being forced to take more trips by road. The officer, who was commander of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, said in a memo to the Ministry of Defence, classified "Nato secret", that the system for managing helicopter movements in Afghanistan was "very clearly not fit for purpose" and there were not...

British Harrier pilot diverted bomb mid-flight to save civilians A British Harrier pilot managed to abort a bomb attack in mid-flight, steering a smart bomb away from its intended Taleban target after a group of civilians strayed into the target area, footage released by the Ministry of Defence showed today. The footage, which was shot from the camera on the jet last year but has been only now declassified, shows that the bomb had already been launched when its target, a Taleban commander in a vehicle, stopped next to a group of civilians. The RAF pilot then made the snap...

United States To Send 'Up To 45,000 More Troops To Afghanistan' The US is expected to announce a significant surge of up to 45,000 extra troops for Afghanistan after Gordon Brown said that 500 more British troops would be sent to the country. By James Kirkup and Andrew Hough 14 Oct 2009 Newsnight reported he would announce a surge in troop numbers. President Barack Obama's administration is understood to have told the British government that it could announce, as early as next week, the substantial increase to its 65,000 troops already serving there. The decision from Mr Obama comes after...

'The British serviceman who first fired on Japanese forces during World War Two has died at the age of 90. Jim Mariner was on board the gunboat HMS Peterel when he secured his place in history at about 4am on December 7, 1941. The vessel was in China's Shanghai Harbour and the crew had been issued with cutlasses and told they should be prepared to die defending the ship. It was the last commissioned Royal Navy craft on the Yangtze River and had been stripped of most of her weapons. She had a skeleton crew and was clearly in no...