The helicopter
is on a nine-month deployment to the Gulf with HMS Richmond –
a Portsmouth-based Type 23 frigate which is silhouetted in the background.
Decoy flares – or Infra Red Counter Measures – attract heat-seeking
missiles, drawing them away from the helicopter’s engines and
onto a much hotter target.
HMS Richmond’s primary tasking in the Indian Ocean has been as
part of Combined Maritime Forces Combined Task Force 150.
Their mission is to promote maritime security in order to counter terrorist
activity and other illegal activities.
Sub-Lieutenant Emily Witcher, one of the ship’s officers of the
watch, said: “We can carry out counter narcotics smuggling one
day, and immediately switch to anti-submarine warfare training the next.
"This demonstrates the flexibility that a Type 23 frigate provides.” |
