The British Royal Air Force (RAF) C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft has delivered vehicles and equipment to the French military.
Piloted by flight lieutenant Mark Shepherd, the 99 Squadron C-17 heavy-lift aircraft collected 30t of equipment and supplies, including a tipper truck, digger and specialist bulldozer from évreux-Fauville Air Base, in western Paris, France.
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The equipment was then delivered to Pointe-à-Pitre on the French Island of Guadeloupe.
The vehicles will be taken to the island of St Martin, in the Caribbean Sea, which sustained severe damage in Hurricane Irma, RAF stated.
évreux-Fauville Air Base base commander colonel David Desjardins said: "Cooperation between the French Air Force and Royal Air Force has been in place for a long time.
“Today we are working together to send engineers and equipment to support both the clean-up operation and the population affected by Hurricane Irma."
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By GlobalDataShepherd said: “We work regularly with the French military transporting freight from France to Western Africa in support of their operations there.
"The level of cooperation between us and the French on this task has been excellent and this has been reflected in how smoothly the transport of this urgently required equipment has been achieved.
Troops from the UK and France are deployed together in Nato to fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, while they also train together across the globe.
The RAF C-17s have also been used to transport freight from France to sub-Saharan Africa.
The RAF air transport fleet continues to directly support the UK aid effort with further C-17s, A400M Atlas, C-130J Hercules, and Voyager aircraft transporting personnel, aid and equipment to the Caribbean, according to the statement.
Image: The RAF C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft collected 30t of equipment and supplies from évreux-Fauville Air Base in Paris, France. Photo: courtesy of MOD Crown.
