Forces News

British forces have appeared on the Champs-Élysées on only a handful of occasions, making this a rare and historic moment in the two nations' shared military history (Picture: MOD) British soldiers will march side-by-side with their French counterparts at the Bastille Day parade in Paris as Sir Keir Starmer visits the capital with other leaders from the Coalition of the Willing.

The Red Arrows have continued their high-octane tour of the United States, taking part in a series of spectacular displays alongside their American counterparts. The RAF Aerobatic Team flew in formation with the US Navy's Blue Angels over Brunswick, Maine, showcasing precision flying and the enduring relationship between the two nations. It comes during a month-long tour under Operation Eagle Hawk, marking America's 250th anniversary of independence.

Young women transforming Ukraine's military and society In a concealed shed not far from the frontline in Ukraine, a 23-year-old woman with fiery red hair, neatly plaited beneath a baseball cap, sits clutching what looks like a computer games console. On the screen before her I can see a kind of buggy trundling away down a dirt track. Mavka used to be a graphic designer, but a year ago her father was killed fighting Russia.

Invictus Games: 'I owe my life to Birmingham', JJ Chalmers says Prince Harry has fired the starting gun on the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games, which will be held in Birmingham. The former Household Cavalryman joined veterans, many of whom carry the scars of injuries sustained in uniform, often while at war.

The Army's new AI battle lab British soldiers will be better prepared for modern warfare with a training system that uses AI, advanced analytics and virtual environments to ready troops for rapidly evolving battlefields. A £2bn contract has been awarded to Omnia Training, a Raytheon UK-led consortium involving five UK-based companies, for the new system, which will help the Army prepare for future missions.

FV432: The old warhorse fighting a modern war in Ukraine British-made armoured vehicles that once served in Iraq and Afghanistan are now back on the battlefield – this time in Ukraine. Since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the UK has supplied Kyiv with around 200 such vehicles – and BFBS reporters Simon Newton and Hannah King headed out to eastern Ukraine to see some of them.

The RAF dominated the swimming events by sweeping the men's, women's and the combined team titles (Picture: BFBS) The Royal Air Force Swimming Association have celebrated their centennial year in style after dominating the swimming events at the Inter Services Aquatics Championships in Aldershot.

The new training guide, backed by a decade of research, aims to revolutionise the health of servicewomen (Picture: BFBS) After decades of research on men, the MOD has spent the past 10 years and £20 million, funding 66 individual research studies involving 22,000 data sets – to investigate the impact of arduous military training on women. The problem became apparent when restrictions on women entering ground close combat roles was lifted in 2016.

Beating the heat while Beating Retreat The Massed Bands of the Royal Marines have been rehearsing at HMS Excellent in Portsmouth for a ceremonial event in London. The 200-plus musicians are preparing for Beating Retreat at Horse Guards Parade. "It only happens once every two years, and it's the only thing that we do that brings all the members of the Royal Marines Band Service together," said Lieutenant Colonel Huw Williams, principal director of music Royal Marines.

Offensive cyber: The battlefield's next frontier Britain's Armed Forces are not just using technology to combat enemy hackers; they are using cyber offensively to target adversaries and bring them down. So, what is offensive cyber? Wing Commander (Ret'd) Nishawn Smagh, who now works for GreyNoise Intelligence and is a former Director of Intelligence for the US Cyber National Mission Force, explained: "This is actually extending power. This is force projection.