Harry destroys Taliban targets in "multiple engagements"

The hero Royal has had "multiple engagements" with the Taliban in his devastating Apache gunship and has provided fire cover on scores of emergency rescue missions.

Pilot Harry, 28, has provided "top cover" to British helicopters vulnerable to ground fire and has identified and destroyed targets.

On one mission he was responsible for protecting the welfare of an aircraft rescuing a seriously wounded British soldier.

Harry, whose call sign falls under generic Apache tag "Ugly", has been on operational duty for more than four weeks, The Sun reported.

He is part of a four-man team on standby 24 hours a day to take to the air and either destroy the enemy or provide cover for other aircraft, including the workhorse Chinook or American Pedro rescue chopper.

"Think World War Two Spitfire pilot and The Battle of Britain. He can be sat in a deckchair for hours then scrambled immediately. When in the air his role is diverse. This is no game and Harry is on the frontline of a terrifying war," a military source said.

The Apache pilot's role is considered one of the most stressful in a modern theatre of war.

The four-blade, twin-engine attack chopper's Hellfire rockets can wipe out an area, including armour, the size of eight football pitches.

Captain Wales has access to a regimental chaplain to discuss the stress he's under, but he's said to be "taking everything in his stride".

Harry's tour is his second of Afghanistan and will make him one of the most highly-decorated Royals in modern times.

"He's in the thick of it and is one of the lads. He's genuinely liked and respected by his comrades and if people think flying an Apache in a warzone is privileged child's play they're on another planet. He's genuinely risking his life in a warzone because he loves the Army and his country," the source said.