Half the age of the RAF: The amazing service life of the Puma helicopter

The Puma began its British military service life in 1971 with 33 Squadron, soon being assigned to 230 Squadron in 1972.

Since then, it has run the gamut of RAF history, seeing service in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, in Belize, Venezuela, Rhodesia, Mozambique, Zaire, Germany, the Gulf War, the Iraq War, Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia, where it served in Britain's effort as part of KFOR.

Also known as the Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma, it was initially developed in the 1960s by the French state-owned company Sud Aviation as a medium helicopter for the French military.

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The RAF later chose it based on its impressive versatility and performance, dubbing it the Puma HC Mk 1, with manufacturing carried out by Westland and Aérospatiale.

It later received an upgrade to the HC Mk 2 variant between 2012 and 2014, with the newer variant ready for service in Afghanistan from 2015 onwards.

The Mark 2 variant could achieve a range of 300 nautical miles and a top speed of 167 knots, or 192mph, on its two 1,800 horsepower Turbomeca Makilia 1A1 turboshaft engines.

That's impressive for a helicopter that was 60ft long, had a rotor blade diameter of almost 50ft, and that could carry its two pilots and 16 passengers, or an equivalent load – be that 12 fully equipped troops, six casualties in stretchers with accompanying medical personnel, or two tonnes of freight.

It was also capable, like the larger Chinook, of hauling an underslung British Army howitzer, the L118 Light Gun.

Sometimes armed with two mounted L7A2 GPMGs for its battlefield support role, it was also used for a variety of other important tasks such as humanitarian missions and a firefighting and search and rescue role, which it performed with 84 Squadron in Cyprus from 2023.

A larger version of the Puma known as the AS332 Super Puma was developed from the late 1970s and now serves with a number of Britain's allies, including the Royal Jordanian Air Force and the Finnish Border Guard.