Ammunition for a Browning .50 Cal machine gun on a vehicle mount; The Parachute Regiment's Pathfinder Platoon on a firing range at Gereshk, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2006

Digital photograph taken by Corporal Mike Fletcher, Royal Logistic Corps, Helmand Task Force Photographer, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2 June 2006.

Pinzgauer support vehicles and Weapons Mounted Installation Kit (WMIK) Land Rovers equipped with Browning 50 calibre machine guns and General Purpose Machine Guns form a firing line. The red-tipped rounds are tracer ammunition. These have a small pyrotechnic charge in their base which is ignited upon firing. They burn brightly and allow the shooter to follow the bullets trajectory relative to the target in order to make corrections to his aim.

The Parachute Regiment's Pathfinder Platoon formed part of 16 Air Assault Brigade's advance force acting as its reconnaissance force.

This image was taken on Operation HERRICK IV, the UK's deployment into Helmand Province, Southern Afghanistan. The Helmand Task Force was made up of 3,300 troops from the British Military, with the majority being taken from 16 Air Assault Brigade.

From a CD of 309 images.Gereshk, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, 2006.