In pictures: Army medics from 16 Medical Regiment train with USAF on Ex Mobility Serpent

A week-long exercise allowed troops to practise supporting medical care from the air, evacuating casualties and delivering critical supplies by parachute.

The UK's 16 Medical Regiment has been training alongside the US Air Force's 352nd Special Operations Wing during Exercise Mobile Serpent at the Stanford training area in Norfolk.

The US Air Force flew MC-130J Commando II and C-146A Wolfhound transport planes from their base at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk to support the joint training.

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The USAF MC-130 and C-146 aircraft were used to evacuate simulated casualties, while British medics practised emergency medical treatment on board the aircraft.

Meanwhile, medics from 16 Medical Regiment, based in Colchester, also set up a pre-hospital treatment team – used to stabilise patients ahead of evacuation – on the training airfield.

"The defining character of 16 Medical Regiment is our specialism in delivering medical care by air, be that how we arrive on the battlefield and are supplied, or how we move casualties," said Staff Sergeant Shaun Newbury, a combat medical technician.

"Working with 352nd SOW has given each of us an insight into the other's capabilities and an understanding of how we would be able to operate together.

"As much as we are close allies in Nato, we are close neighbours and it has been a positive opportunity to build relations with other military units based in East Anglia."