Royal Marines in UK beach 'assault' 04.10.12
70Royal Marine Commandos have launched a dramatic assault on a strip of UK coastline today in the build up to Cougar 12, a three-month training mission which will later see them sent to the Mediterranean and Adriatic.
Today's landing in Plymouth is part of an exercise that will eventually see more than 3,000 sailors, commandos and airmen join French and Albanian troops in exercises designed to prepare them for working together on combat operations.
The naval exercise comes after a decade of land-based fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan which has focused on the Army.
The commander of the UK Task Group, Commodore Paddy McAlpine, said: "Cougar 12 provides us with a superb opportunity to rekindle our amphibious capability after a prolonged period when our focus has been on operations elsewhere."
The Royal Navy's flagship HMS Bulwark and the helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious will take part in exercises, as well as the Type 23 frigates Northumberland and Montrose.
But the vessels will be dwarfed by the French flagship, the 37,000-tonne aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which provides a launchpad for Rafale and Super Etendard jets and will be the envy of British airmen on the deployment.
British aircraft involved in the exercises include Lynx, Merlin and Sea King helicopters, as well as Apache gunships.
The multinational forces will train as part of the Response Force Task Group, which was set up following the Government's Strategic Defence and Security Review two years ago.
Ministers and defence chiefs created the crack squad as a rapid reaction force to deal with unexpected world events needing military might.