Wounded service personnel have welcomed a government move to guarantee leg amputees get the most up-to-date prosthetic limbs available.
Whitehall has announced a funding boost of £6.5 million to ensure all members of the Armed Forces, past and present, who have been injured in Iraq or Afghanistan will be able to have state-of-the-art micro processor limbs, known as "bionic legs".
Paralympic rower Captain Nick Beighton, who competed in London 2012, lost both his legs in a blast while on a foot patrol in Afghanistan in 2009.
The 31-year-old Royal Engineer, now with 3 Regiment RSME (Royal School of Military Engineering) said of the high-tech Genium leg: "To have the opportunity to try it and to use it and get the latest technology is fabulous for us because it just gives us that freedom to get out and do more things and have greater functionality and more independence, essentially."
Speaking at the military rehabilitation centre at Headley Court in Surrey, the officer who had his right leg blown off through the knee and his left leg above the knee, said the micro processor limb was a "big step up in technology".
He added: "As you build your strength up and build you independence up, you obviously want to functionally be at a higher level, and that's what this leg offers."
The £6.5 million has been made available by the Chancellor from the Treasury's Special Reserve.
All wounded servicemen and women will now have access to the "bionic leg" - made famous by the British Paralympic discus thrower Derek Derenalagi last summer - where clinical conditions indicate the limb is appropriate.
Experts said the micro processor knee will dramatically improve the quality of life for rehabilitation amputees, providing better stability, greater mobility and improvements in the ability to step over obstacles, negotiate stairs and walk backwards safely.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said: "One of this Government's top priorities has always been to give our troops the best possible care and support."
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