BRITISH troops blasted enemy targets with £50million Apache helicopters in a massive show of force on Vladimir Putin’s doorstep.
Soldiers in the Arctic Circle sent a carefully coded message to Moscow’s mad tyrant, turning the home of Santa Claus into Europe’s biggest military firing zone.
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The British Army’s top-of-the-range Apache choppers launched deadly Hellfire anti-armour missiles, smashing mock positions seven miles away at 1,000mph.
Hellfires are used to hit high-value targets like enemy tanks because of how much damage a single payload can inflict.
The Sun watched on as troops performed a complete refuel and rearmament of two Apache choppers, which can fly for two-and-a-half hours at 220mph, in just 40 minutes.
British soldiers carefully loaded two giant 100lb missiles, carried by three troops at a time, as the pilots showed off how they can aim the chopper’s 30mm machine gun simply by looking at a target.
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More than 350 UK troops are in Lapland, just 70 miles from Finland’s border with Russia, where the sun shines virtually round the clock.
Speaking from the remote Sodankyla Airfield, Air Trooper Alfie Giles, 19, told The Sun: “The Hellfire is a very powerful weapon. I’ve seen the damage it can do up close, and it’s a lot.
“They cost about £80,000. We would use them to eliminate tanks.
“If this hits a vehicle, the vehicle is destroyed.
“I loaded my first Hellfire during this exercise, and that’s quite a big thing to do. All of that training we do here is very useful to take forward.
“It’s a great feeling to actually get hands-on with the aircraft and the ammunition.”
Air Trooper Molly McLelland, 19, added: “Some of us haven’t been out here before, so it’s nice to get together and use this experience for the next deployment.
“Environments like this are so different to the UK.
“It’s really important that we do this, so everyone has an understanding of what it could be like if things were to happen.”
The aviation communications specialist said the drills could serve as “a little reminder” to Russia of NATO’s presence.
She went on: “We’re aware of where we are, we’re not trying to hide it, and we’re all very aware of what’s going on.”
The extreme drills are part of preparation work for next year’s exercise Razor Edge, where the UK will take a leading role.
Brigadier Nick English, Commander of the 1st Aviation Brigade Combat Team, told The Sun: “You can’t ignore the fact that there’s a land war in Ukraine, and part of the role of NATO is in deterrence.
“Finland has been doing this for a very long time, and living next to Russia for a very long time.
“This (drill) allows us to bring things that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to.”
He added that his unit’s Apaches demonstrated Britain’s “unique” role in NATO.
The Northern Strike drills are being run without any American presence amid US President Donald Trump’s demands for European allies to stump up more money.
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Dr English said: “I think what you’re seeing, importantly, is some of our best capabilities here.
“Whether that’s rocket artillery, whether that’s our attack helicopters, these are the things that Britain can uniquely contribute to NATO.
“We’re bringing those capabilities that states don’t have currently, and allow us to integrate them in.”
British forces have been in Finland since the start of the month, but most were firing real chopper missiles for the first time on Wednesday.
The chance to mount a full-scale practice assault only comes around roughly once a year.
The brigadier added: “The range here is big enough to allow us to fire missiles in a full scenario, which is what they’ve done.
“For some of my team, this is the first time.
“They’re newly qualified, and this is the first time they fired Hellfire missiles.
“That actually gives them a phenomenal confidence, that from all of the training and practice that we give them, when they come here and try it for real, it all works.”
Soldiers braved the Finnish ‘summer’ complete with snow, thick mud, and temperatures still below freezing.
But Major Joe Wooldridge, of the 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, joked: “This is a typical summer’s day for the regiment up in Northumberland.
It’s really important that we do this, so everyone has an understanding of what it could be like if things were to happen
Molly McLelland
“We have quite a bit of experience in doing this from Estonia and other places with similar conditions.”
“We’ve been working closely with our Finnish colleagues to understand what the conditions are like now, what they were like a few weeks ago, and what they will be like for the rest of our time here.”
British troops will also test rocket launchers later this week alongside 6,000 Finnish and Swedish soldiers.
It comes after Vladimir Putin visited the Kursk region for the first time since his troops prised their land back from Ukraine in a long and costly face-saving mission.
Vlad met with volunteer organisations on Tuesday, the Kremlin said, and marched around a nuclear power plant wearing a silly white helmet.
He also said the Kremlin supported the idea of continuing monthly payments to displaced Russian families that still could not return to their homes.
