Military year in review: Armed Forces chiefs look back on 2022
The military chiefs from all three services have taken a look back on 2022, speaking to Forces News about how the year played out for the Armed Forces.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, head of the British Army, started with Ukraine, stating it has "been an enormous effort" to "ensure that we are able to train now just under 10,000 Ukrainians at almost no notice".
"And there will be another 20,000 or so that we expect to train next year," he said.
General Sir Patrick also talked of "ensuring that supplies of materiel, of ammunition, equipment, get to the Ukrainians".
"But the consequence of that, of course, is that our own stockpiles run down and we need to address that," he said.
The head of the Royal Air Force told Forces News the challenge for the service in 2022 has been the "operational demand".
"Particularly facing Russia's aggression in Ukraine," he said.
"Bolstering our Nato allies, making sure that we're doing everything we can to support Ukraine's heroic fight.
"Whether that's resupply missions with our air mobility aircraft or the air defence missions with our combat aircraft, Typhoon and Lightning.
"That's put a big demand onto the force on top of all of the things we are doing all around the world.
"The Royal Air Force has really had to pull out all of the stops this year operationally and it's been a big ask on our people," he added.
Admiral Sir Ben Key, head of the Royal Navy, told Forces News it has been a "phenomenal year of achievement for the Royal Navy".
"We've operated on the seas of all the oceans and we've had training teams ashore in over 20 countries around the world," he said.
"Sailors and marines from across the service have been actively engaged globally on operations."
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