Gallery: Exercise Pinion Titan sees British and French helicopters training together
RAF photographers AS1 Jason Russell, AS1 Joseph Head, and Cpl Tomas Barnard captured scenes from a major exercise that saw troops, ground vehicles, and aircraft from three nations work together
About 2,000 troops, and 1,000 ground vehicles and 50 helicopters from the British Army, Royal Air Force (RAF), French Armée de Terre, and US Army took part in Exercise Pinion Titan, under the command of 1st Aviation Brigade. The major exercise showed readiness for NATO combat operations.
Starting at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk, eastern England, a formation of 24 Apache, Chinook, Gazelle, and Wildcat helicopters lifted off after taxiing together along the runway, in a maneuver called an ‘elephant walk’.
Brigadier Nick English, Commander of 1st Aviation Brigade, said: “Exercise Pinion Titan marks the end of a modernization program started when 1st Aviation Brigade was formed in 2020. Every one of our soldiers, vehicles, and helicopters is going into the field for us to test our capabilities together. We will be working closely with the RAF, our French and US allies, and integrating cutting-edge technologies such as drones and advanced communications systems.”
After leaving Wattisham, the troops traveled to set up bases across northern England.
The exercise was spread out across Dishforth, Catterick, and Otterburn and saw the Joint Helicopter Force provide support to ground troops, demonstrating troop movement, medevac, and underslung loads. The primary objective was to demonstrate UK aviation and 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team (1 AvnX) capability to NATO allies.
Coordinated by the Brigade headquarters, both battlegroups planned and carried out simulated missions that saw helicopters flying all the way across the Scottish Highlands and down to Salisbury Plain in southern England.
Royal Air Force Chinooks from 7, 18, 27, and 28 Squadrons work alongside British Army Wildcats from 1 Regiment Army Air Corps and troops from 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, starting at Wattisham Flying Station in Suffolk then moving to bases in Dishforth, Catterick, and Otterburn, before performing simulated missions across the UK from the Highlands in Scotland to Wiltshire in England.
May 2026
Issue
Training for special missions is on another level, so it’s a great pleasure to bring you the training edition of AirMed&Rescue for May. We have features on night flights for police aviators; the simulators for military special missions training; the systems and scenarios for hoist operations; and engineering training for airframe and powerplant mechanics.