SPECIALIST weapons teams from Britain and France joined forces to hone their skills.

Troops from the machine gun platoon of 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, based in Colchester, hosted their French counterparts to train on a range of weapons.

Soldiers showed the anti-tank platoon of 2e Regiment Etranger de Parachutistes their expertise with the general purpose machine gun and the .50 calibre heavy machine gun.

Lt Tom Shaw, officer commanding 2 Para’s machine gun platoon, said the training, hosted on Salisbury Plain, had given the troops a valuable chance to gain insight from each other which might one day make the difference on the battlefield.

“They’ve just re-introduced several weapon systems that we operate at the machine gun platoon here at 2 PARA, and it’s an opportunity for us to train with them, and to see how they use them, and for them to pick up anything from us that they want to incorporate into their training back in Corsica,” he said.

“It’s really good for the blokes to gain an awareness of what other militaries are doing, because obviously we do operate alongside these people on multinational exercises.

“It’s also really good for the more junior members of the platoon to gain experience in instruction, especially the added challenge of having to deal with people who don’t necessarily speak English as a first language.”

2e REP’s Adjutant Riok Grall said despite language barriers, the troops share the same ethos and professionalism and work together effectively.

“It’s very similar, there are a few adjustments to be done, so if tomorrow we do go out on a mission anywhere in the world, I do believe 2 PARA and 2e REP would be able to function very easily, because we have the same mentality, and the same way of working," he said.

“There might be a language barrier, but when you’re out in the field everyone speaks the same language.”

British and French airborne forces maintain a permanent partnership, which stands at high readiness to deploy as the Airborne Combined Joint Expeditionary Force on operations anywhere in the world.