A front-line RAF base has expanded training for all personnel to reflect evolving threats at home and abroad.

RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, is one of two quick reaction alert stations that protect UK airspace with combat-ready squadrons of Typhoon jets.

Military leaders have raised the level of force protection training, which includes combat first aid, additional firearms drills and awareness of chemical, nuclear and biological hazards.

Wing Cdr Ian Hart, who commands 29 Squadron, said the change in posture was "a recognition that the threat can come to us very, very easily in today's world".

He added: "We need to be ready here and we need to refresh those drills and be ready to act on them should any of those threats actually become a reality for us."

The base is the first in the UK to introduce Module 2 Individual Readiness Training as its minimum standard.

Hart said: "When we look at the unstable world and the threats we're facing, I think it just brings it home that actually we need to be ready wherever we are, all of the time."

He explained how combat first aid training reflected threats such as drone strikes.

"We've just finished our first aid training and when we talk about drones, if you look at what's going on in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, you see a lot of situations where you might be first on the scene, wherever you are.

"That could be at Coningsby, it could be overseas."

The enhanced training is delivered by the Force Protection Training Flight, a specialist team staffed by members of the RAF Regiment.

They are described by the service as "the unsung guardians".

Warrant Officer Lee Hargreaves, who commands the flight, said the training was mandatory for all personnel, "from pilots through to chefs, HR specialists through to musicians".

"Although they have a trade and a primary role to do, they still have to know the force protection skills so they can meet the requirement.

"Pilots make up about 4% of the Royal Air Force. The other 96% is what makes that 4% happen."

While RAF policy requires all personnel to hold Module 1 training as a minimum, Coningsby is the first RAF station in the UK to adopt Module 2 as standard.

The approach is being rolled out more widely across the service.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, and watch the latest episode of Look North.