The British Military On A Global Stage

ARABIAN SEA, OMAN - OCTOBER 23: Personnel from 40 Commando, Royal Marines listen to instructions before heading from RFA Lyme Bay on a night time raid as part of exercise 'Saif Sareea 3' on October 23, 2018 in the Arabian Sea, Oman. 2018 has been a busy year for the British military as 5500 Regular British military personnel and Reserves from the Navy, Army and Air Force joined 60000 of their Omani counterparts train across the country in Exercise Saif Sareea (SS3) - meaning Swift Sword in Arabic. The UK has a long and established defence relationship with Oman and SS3 underpinned the UK’s commitment to international allies and the ability to conduct a strategic deployment of a war fighting force to the Middle East. Running concurrently to SS3, tri-force troops joined 50000 military personnel from 31 countries in central and eastern Norway for the NATO-led Exercise Trident Juncture 18 (TRJE18). The objective of TRJE 18 being that NATO forces are trained to operate together ready to respond to threats from any direction. HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain's newest aircraft carrier, returns to her home port of Portsmouth next week in time for Christmas. During the past few months the ship has completed sea trials in the Atlantic Sea and successfully tested her capability to land the F-35 Fighter Jets on deck. By 2021 HMS Queen Elizabeth should be deployed on global operations. It can be said that the British military is operating and co-operating on a truly global stage. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)