UK helicopter crews will be taking off from Wattisham Flying Station next week to take part in NATO's largest military exercise since the cold war.  

The fleet of more than a dozen Apache, Wildcat and Chinook helicopters have assembled in Suffolk for the international military exercise, Steadfast Defender.

The Army has not issued a noise warning for the event, but people living in and around the Wattisham area will be able to see the helicopters in flight about 9am on Tuesday, April 23.

This comes after The Apache Mk.1 landed at Wattisham Airfield for it's final flight earlier this year. 

The Army said that the fleet, based in Suffolk, are "kept at very high readiness to respond to international crises."

British helicopter pilots, technicians and soldiers taking part will be working with their US, Finnish, Polish and Estonian counterparts.

Over 20,000 British personnel will be involved in the training exercise overall, out of 90,000 troops from the 32 NATO members.