MILITARY weapons from rifles to anti-tank weapons will be on show to thousands of visitors at one of the biggest demonstrations of military firepower in the UK.

Lieutenant Tom Spilman, 27, from Boroughbridge, is a platoon commander with 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment based at Warminster. He is organising a stand to show off the many light role weapons and personal equipment used by soldiers in the Battalion. The stand is part of the annual Combined Arms Firepower Demonstration on Salisbury Plain.

"The stand is part of a capabilities demonstration and we show visitors a wide variety of weapons, night sights, personal equipment and even rations," said Tom who joined the Army three years ago and is a former pupil of St Peter's School, in York.

"We are expecting a lot of visitors from the Army Staff College at Shrivenham and potential officers from all three services and it is interesting for them to see a full range of everything from a personal rifle through to a Challenger 2 tank.

"It is a bit different from what I do normally which is to manage a platoon of 30 men through their training, operations, and day-to-day work life."

The Combined Arms Firepower Demonstration is a showcase of all the operational kit and equipment given to a wide audience drawn from all three services, including cadets, military attaches, and industry. It is estimated that 6,000 people see the demonstration over four days.

They have the opportunity to see everything fired from a Javelin anti-tank weapon to a Challenger 2 tank and from an AS90 self-propelled gun to Apache helicopters and an RAF Tornado fighter aircraft.

This is the last time that 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment will act as the demonstration battalion and for their new Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Pullan it is the first and last time.

"The Battalion is now permanently based in Warminster and we will finish our job to support the Land Warfare Training Centre in March next year," said Lt Col Pullan.

"We will then join 12 Mechanised Brigade as its armoured infantry battalion and complete routine preparation for operations."

The 3rd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment recruits across Yorkshire and was formed in June 2006.

Anyone interested in knowing more about the Yorkshire Regiment should visit www.army.mod.uk/yorkshire_regiment.