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Airborne forces: evolving for the future
Last posted:2013-06-28
In an age of global uncertainty, the future of airborne forces is perhaps stronger than it has ever been, albeit on a smaller, more focused scale, writes David Reynolds
Airborne forces across the NATO alliance and beyond are restructuring themselves to ensure they can deliver tactical and strategic 'effect' across the spectrum of modern warfare to meet a range of diverse threats. In January 2013 the French Army demonstrated the tactical significance of airborne operations when it conducted a static line combat parachute assault into Mali on a drop zone north of Timbuktu. A company-plus-sized unit of 120 paratroopers was dropped in darkness, its mission to seize Tessalit Airport and block any escape route for Islamists into the northern deserts. At the same time the French launched a helicopter assault from the south. The operation was a textbook success.
Parachute assault as a means of theatre entry offers unrivalled speed of reaction and can project power in support of political intent. Moreover, airborne forces also have the capability to poise, literally, in mid-air or at a forward operating base, thus enabling a final decision to prosecute a 'theatre entry' to be delayed until the last possible minute or reversed in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Retained in the order of battle of a number of countries, including Argentina, China, France, Germany, Jordan, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the primary role of such forces has evolved to the extent that although battalion- and brigade-level parachute deployments remain a core capability, they are no longer the primary function of airborne forces.
Fiscal pressures
New force structures are being adopted as nations face the challenge of rebalancing resources amid growing fiscal pressure on defence budgets. Australia has reduced its parachute capability and invested in aviation regiments, while several South American countries have also reshaped their airborne forces around helicopter operations. Canada, Russia, and the UK have all recently carried out reviews of their armed forces, which in the main have seen a 'smaller but more positive' future for airborne operations. In the UK the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review identified 16 Air Assault Brigade as a core element of its new deployable land forces structure in the Future Force 2020 plan, listing it alongside UK special forces (UKSF) for high-readiness operations. The brigade comprises two parachute- and two helicopter-borne or air-landed battalions that rotate responsibility for the Airborne Task Force (ABTF). The current 'secondment' of one UK parachute battalion to UKSF as the core element of the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) has not, according to senior officers, affected the brigade's ability to deploy a battle group.
In the 21st century a mixed fleet of attack and battlefield helicopters, together with tactical air transport, provides strategic air maneuver and enhanced firepower. Air-maneuver forces provide governments with the ability to act in circumstances that would otherwise render them powerless. This amalgamation of parachute- and helicopter-borne forces deployable by strategic airlift has enhanced this capability and shaped new doctrine. These concepts can be deployed separately or in tandem, generating combined groupings that increase fighting power and enhance the flexibility of such forces, allowing mission objectives to be altered at short notice to influence or mount a deception plan and ultimately dislocate an enemy's will to fight. Air maneuver operations exploit the ability of airlifters (such as the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, and the new Airbus A400 Atlas) to provide strategic reach and can incorporate a mixture of assets tailored to the mission to deliver men and materiel with: combat support (CS), in the form of artillery and engineers; combat service support (CSS) delivering logistics; and combat command support (CCS) elements providing command and control (C2).
The arrival of the A400M will deliver significant strategic airlift to military air maneuver capability in the UK, as well as Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, and Turkey. A total of 174 aircraft have been ordered by these countries, with 22 heading for Royal Air Force (RAF) Brize Norton in southern England. The A400M is able to carry 116 military personnel and vehicles and helicopters (including the Boeing CH-47 Chinook) that are too large or too heavy for previous-generation airlifters in Western European service. The RAF will take delivery of its first A400M in 2014, and initial parachute trials - which included a team from the RAF Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit at Brize Norton - have already taken place.
The types of air maneuver that deliver troops on the ground require advance forces in the form of pathfinders to deploy ahead of the main force to secure the initial area of operation. Employing high-altitude low-opening (HALO) or high-altitude high-opening (HAHO) free-fall parachute entry to evade radar, they are inserted up to 24 hours ahead of the main force to assess enemy forces and threats, as well as geographical obstacles. They also identify, mark, and secure drop zones and, as aircraft make their approach, indicate to pilots the release points for dropping their sticks of paratroopers. Similar procedures are followed for guiding in helicopter-borne troops.
Parachute operations are mounted from a forward mounting base (FMB) to insert a battle group on the ground. The UK's ABTF requires 15 transport aircraft to lift the entire force along with its vehicles and equipment. The CS artillery element, comprising 105 mm Light Guns, are deployed on Medium Stressed Platforms (MSPs) and dropped from a second stream of C-130 transport aircraft. The process of mounting a battle group is known as a combined air operation (COMAO). It requires immense planning and DE confliction, with a C2 platform sat above the stream of C-130s, electronic warfare (EW) aircraft providing point and flank cover, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying ahead to provide surveillance of the drop zones, and fighter strike aircraft to 'steal' a corridor of air protection, as well as carry out the additional roles of reconnaissance, suppression of enemy air defences, and close air support (CAS).
Air-landed forces deliver troops to the airhead, often after an airport has been seized by a parachute force. The concept was used during the Second World War when soldiers arrived by glider, although today's technology and tactical delivery allow more men to be put on the ground in a short space of time. Both UK and NATO forces deploy two similar systems, with the British listing them as tactical air-land operations (TALO) and rapid air-land operations (RALO). A TALO delivers air-landed soldiers in C-130s or C-17s to a secured airfield. A RALO plans for aircraft to land and deploy vehicles and stores before taking off immediately. Such tactics allow commanders to generate force resources quickly.
The helicopter air assault delivered in support helicopters will ideally mount from a nearby FMB and be escorted by attack helicopters that will undertake, if required, joint air attack (JAAT) missions to suppress enemy activity and provide flank protection. Air assault was used as a means of theatre entry in Kosovo and has been widely used in Afghanistan by coalition forces, with Canada, the UK, and the US being the main exponents. C2 of air assault formations has grown significantly to meet the complex management and DE confliction of timelines and control of air space. An air assault formation, with the support of an Airborne Assault Command and Control Platform - rotary or fixed wing, depending on the mission requirement - can execute the delivery of all three 'air maneuver' capabilities (parachute, air-landed, and helicopter-borne assault), as well as attack helicopter support, all within one headquarters.
Each air maneuver function has its own desk and supporting personnel. In the case of the UK's 16 Air Assault Brigade, a brigade planning group was expanded from 47 in its pure parachute role to more than 160 in the air assault environment, with the numbers increasing for multinational operations. Endurance planning and the positioning of a forward air refueling point for rotary aviation is critical. Step-Up, the process of moving a headquarters as a formation advances, is a significant challenge and is often exercised using the 'standalone' skills of parachute, air-landing, or helicopter-borne operations according to the mission requirement.
In 1996 US and UK airborne forces mounted the biggest post-war air assault exercise in the US in the form of Exercise 'Purple Star', when more than 11,000 personnel took part in parachute, air-landed, and helicopter-borne assaults in a night mission with a full CAMO escort involving low-level tactical approach and joint C2. The UK's then 5 Airborne Brigade (later designated 16 Air Assault Brigade following amalgamation with 24 Airmobile Brigade in 1999) deployed in total, while 3Commando Brigade Royal Marines mounted helicopter-borne assaults with a battalion of the Royal Gurkha Rifles being air-landed. It was the first occasion on which a Scimitar Combat Vehicle - Reconnaissance (Tracked) was inserted on an MSP. The parachute element of 5 Airborne Brigade jumped with the US T-10 parachute, which has been in service for 50 years and is in use across the globe with Asian, Egyptian, European, and South American forces. The parachute in service with UK armed forces since the mid-1990s is the Irvin-GQ Low-Level Parachute (LLP), whose light bulb-shaped canopy permits personnel to be dropped at 250 ft.
In the US a new generation of parachutes is being introduced with the development of the Airborne Systems T-11. First tested at the US Army's Airborne School at Fort Benning in Georgia, the new canopy has been fielded by the 75th Ranger Regiment (which has logged more than 3,000jumps on the new canopy) and the 82nd Airborne Division. It will be in full service across the US Army by 2014. The T-11 differs from its predecessor, the T-10, in that the canopy deployment is smoother, with oscillation minimized, while the chute is designed to carry a heavier load - about 45kg more and closer to current load requirements.
Furthermore, the T-11 has a canopy that is larger than that of its predecessors and square shaped, providing a slower descent rate. Lieutenant Colonel Jon Ring at the US Army's Airborne School at Fort Benning said the introduction of the new parachute is a major milestone for the US military. He explained: "This is the first new canopy in 51 years. It is a totally new concept. The parachute has been redesigned to take into account the additional equipment and body armour worn by today's soldiers and will take us forward in future operations."
Canada, which has a limited military parachute capability since the disbandment of the Canadian Airborne Regiment several years ago, has ordered 600 of the new T-11s to replace its CT-1 canopies. It is understood the parachute will be used by Canada's special forces units. Airborne Systems has also introduced a new-generation canopy specifically for use by special forces. Called the Intruder and incorporating a new long-range oxygen system to provide additional in-flight endurance, it is designed for HALO and HAHO operations and has been selected as the system of choice for the US Army's RA-1 system, replacing the Legacy MC4/5 system.
The most significant development in parachute technology in the last 50 years has been the wing suit, although it has as not yet been adopted for military use. Comprising a one-piece garment with fabric 'wings' that join the arms of the suit to the body, it enables a free-fall parachutist to generate high speeds while 'tracking' over long distances before deploying the parachute. At present, the suit is mainly a sports parachute, but has been used in the UK by The Parachute Regiment's Red Devils free-fall display team. It has obvious applications for special forces, although it is unclear as to how the additional weight of a soldier's equipment would affect its performance.
During the last decade, the mounting of an airborne battle group has proved a challenge for some European nations, with key formations engaged in medium-scale war fighting in Afghanistan. Despite the high operational tempo of conflicts and smaller operations in Libya and Mali, which have caused a heavy drain on its tactical transport aircraft resources, the UK has maintained its airborne battle group capability, focusing its future concept of operations on company-level formations while maintaining the capability to 'scale up' at any time with the use for limited periods of the Small-Scale Contingency Task Force, which was based on a company group and used as the model for forces across NATO. While the US and Russia continue to field the largest operational formations of paratroopers in the world, many NATO forces now focus their training cycle and readiness around company-sized formations. These contribute to an 'on call' task force and combine to deliver the three air-assault elements, with each asset retaining the capability to scale up to a full battalion if required. This highly flexible air maneuver formation provides the Land Component Commander with an ability to increase his or her area of influence and, hence, area of operations.
At the same time, joint operations - both airborne and air assault, as well as C2 - have increased within NATO. France, Germany, Spain, the UK, and the US regularly participate in company-level exercises to develop interoperability skills in planning and battle space management. The UK has increased its 'joint skills' significantly by jumping, at company level, with French, Polish, Spanish, Ukrainian, and US airborne forces in the past 12 months to broaden 'military co-operation' for the future.
During Exercise 'Joint Warrior', conducted in Scotland in March 2013, French troops from the 11e Brigade Parachutiste deployed with the UK's 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) in West Freugh, six miles inland from Stranraer. Commenting on the exercise, French Colonel Bruno Helluy said: "During one year 16 Air Assault Brigade and 11e Brigade Parachutiste has worked together to be able to do this kind of intervention. This exercise demonstrates that we can plan and conduct operations together, both airborne and air assault." Colonel Andrew Jackson, Deputy Commander, 16 Air Assault Brigade, added:
"'Joint Warrior' has given us the opportunity to demonstrate that, as a bi-national land component with our sister French brigade, we have rapidly developed a credible and progressively validated capability with them."
As a means of rapid reaction, the concept of parachute assault, as well as air-landed and helicopter air assault, have firmly proved themselves as a key element of future operations. The US military's investment in the new T-11 and the adoption of the new Intruder parachute clearly demonstrates that parachuting is a key part of future operations. Smaller airborne operations are likely to be a key component in contingency planning, delivering air-landed and air assault forces as an intervention force in a joint environment.
David Reynolds is a JDW Correspondent, based in Plymouth.
THE GROWTH OF AIRBORNE FORCES
Today, parachute-trained formations are a core element of most nations' armed forces, often sitting alongside air assault components. In all, more than 50 countries hold some form of parachute capability, ranging from company-level to division-sized formations. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with inventing the parachute, but it was Germany, Italy, and Russia that initially adopted it for use in warfare. Germany was the first to use airborne forces in a major role, deploying its Fallschirmjäger in Denmark and Norway in 1940 and subsequently in its invasion of the Low Countries. These operations were followed by the invasion of Crete in 1941 in which an entire German division was parachuted and air-landed into battle, albeit suffering severe casualties that resulted in Adolf Hitler declaring: "The day of the Fallschirmjäger is over."
British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill was the driving force behind the formation of the UK's airborne forces, having seen Germany's highly successful incorporation of them in its blitzkrieg strategy. Allied airborne operations, however, including those carried out by the Russians, incurred heavy casualties as was witnessed in Normandy in June 1944 and three months later around Arnhem during Operation 'Market Garden'.
However, such an airborne capability has not always enjoyed political support. In the years following the Second World War the allies reduced the size of their airborne forces and, following the political fallout of the Anglo/French intervention by parachute and helicopter assault at Suez in 1956, there was little in the way of political support for them for almost a decade. In the UK the Army Board saw little role for parachute troops or helicopter assault and thus focused investment on armour and the British Army of the Rhine.
Nevertheless, the period from the 1950s onwards saw the resumption of airborne operations in different parts of the globe. During the mid-1950s the French employed helicopters to insert airborne units during counter-insurgency operations in Algeria. Almost a decade later, in 1963 during the Vietnam War, the concept of helicopter-borne airmobile operations was conceived and thereafter developed extensively to include the use of helicopter gunships and medical evacuation (Medevac) helicopters. There was, however, only one combat parachute insertion during the Vietnam War, which took place in February 1967 during Operation 'Unction City'. In Asia, the early 1970s saw the Indian Parachute Regiment drop its 2nd Parachute Group during operations against Pakistani forces in 1971, thereafter expanding its capability.
In the UK, meanwhile, the 1960s saw numerous deployments of UK airborne forces overseas, but the cost of retaining the three regular army battalions of The Parachute Regiment at 'readiness to jump' was seen as unnecessary and the 'in-date jump capability' was thus reduced to one battalion. In March 1977 the UK's last parachute formation, 16 Parachute Brigade, was disbanded and thereafter there was just one 'in-role' parachute battalion within the British order of battle, with the regiment's two other battalions being deployed out of role. At the same time, however, Russia and the United States invested increasing resources into their airborne forces.
In 1978 the Turkish Army mounted a parachute assault into northern Cyprus, while in the same year the French, who have always retained the role of parachute insertion as a means of rapid deployment, dropped a battalion at Kolwezi in Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Five years year later, during the 1983 Invasion of Grenada, a composite force of the US Army's two battalions of the 75th Ranger Regiment made a combat jump over Point Salines International Airport during Operation 'Just Cause'.
In the UK, following the success of The Parachute Regiment's 2 and 3 PARA in the Falklands War in 1982, the Army Board re-designated 5 Infantry Brigade as 5 Airborne Brigade, with full battle group- and brigade-level parachute drops being reintroduced. In 1989, during the US invasion of Panama, the US 82nd Airborne Division made its first combat jump in more than 40 years. Seven years later in 1996, the UK's 5 Airborne Brigade planned and prepared for operations in Zaire. The plan, codenamed 'Purposeful', was to mount a battle group parachute assault into Zaire on a humanitarian mission. It was later cancelled, but the capability had been identified and the initial parachute assault was to be followed by a TALO carried out by 45 Commando RM.
Following the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001, part of the initial US response included a small airborne assault into Afghanistan. During the following month, a team from the C2 element of the regimental headquarters of the 75th Ranger Regiment jumped into Kandahar to secure an airfield. Meanwhile, a second drop, which included British personnel, took place at Bagram north of Kabul. In February 2003, elements of The Parachute Regiment conducted rehearsal jumps north of Kuwait in readiness for orders to seize oil fields if required. A month later, US forces conducted a combat jump from 15 C-17s into northern Iraq to seize a desert airfield. During their deployment to Helmand in 2006, the headquarters of the UK's 3 PARA planned company-sized parachute assaults in support of US forces, but the operations were cancelled.
Parachute operations have not been confined to Western forces. In 2009, during Operations 'Black Thunderstorm' and 'Rah-e-Nijat', Pakistani paratroopers conducted combat jumps against Taliban forces in northwest Pakistan to seize control of an important mountain area.
Most recently, French airborne forces mounted a parachute assault into Mali. In April 2013 NATO's Defence College in Italy hosted a conference and workshop entitled 'The Future of Airborne Forces in NATO'. Hosted by the US airborne community and attended by Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK, it focused on ways to enhance interoperability and share best practices for airborne operations in the future.
GLOBAL CAPABILITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Argentina: Brigade-strength formation on paper, but a lack of investment has resulted in the capability's erosion over the past decade, with parachute training being maintained on a small level due to a lack of transport aircraft and fiscal cuts to the defence budget. Helicopter assault has suffered from similar restrictions.
Australia: Maintains a parachute force at battlegroup level. The 3rd Royal Australian Regiment (parachute role) lost its capability last year, but the Australian Department of Defence has invested in helicopter lift and the creation of aviation regiments. The country's special forces maintain the main parachute role.
Brazil: Brigade-sized airborne force that exercises regularly and maintains a small force at high readiness. Significant elements of the brigade are assigned to anti-drugs operations. Well-trained and supplied with US equipment: possibly one of the strongest forces in South America.
Canada: Airborne role assigned to special forces at battalion level. The country's parachute regiment was disbanded several years ago. The Canadian Armed Forces have recently ordered 600 new T-11 parachutes and required spare components from Airborne Systems in a contract estimated to be worth CAD3.6 million for its Special Operations Regiment.
China: The People's Liberation Army (PLA) maintains division-strength forces in the 15th Airborne Corps, all under the command of the PLA. Its main task in recent years has been in support of emergency responses to earthquakes. In May 2008 several hundred Chinese paratroopers jumped into Sichuan Province after an earthquake hit.
France: The French military operates a brigade-sized parachute formation, as well as a special forces brigade. The 11th Brigade Parachutists provides a reaction force and is currently equipped to mount battalion and brigade parachute assaults. Like other nations, its doctrine has moved towards smaller force delivery.
Germany: The Federal Ministry of Defence maintains a brigade-sized force of parachute troops. In 2002 the German military created an air mobile division equipped with US Sikorsky CH-53 helicopters. During recent exercises in January 2013 French paratroopers dropped from German Air Force transport aircraft in a NATO exercise.
India: A brigade-sized airborne force that has been actively involved in counter-terrorist operations in Kashmir. Indian parachute forces, which also adopt the helicopter air assault capability, have in the past two years trained with forces from Bangladesh, France, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, and the US.
Italy: A brigade-sized force that regularly trains with its NATO counterparts. The force has seen cutbacks to logistics and helicopters (within its air mobile role) as a result of government budget reviews. In the past 10 years it has been deployed in Iraq, East Timor, Lebanon, and Afghanistan.
Malaysia: A brigade-sized airborne force that exercises on a regular basis and is maintained as the country's rapid deployment force. Malaysian paratroopers are trained in HALO techniques and have mainly deployed in anti-terrorist operations. In 2000 they deployed to Sipadan and Pandanan islands after hostages were taken.
Pakistan: A brigade-sized formation developed on the US Army's airborne structure. The Pakistani parachute force has been deployed in Kashmir. A well-equipped force with a long-established history, it mounted an operational combat jump in 2009 into the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.
Russia: Russia maintains division-strength forces. It mounts regular exercises and in 2012, the 106th Guards Airborne Division was stationed at Khomyakovo, near Tula, in central Russia. During exercises in 2012 it dropped three combat crews (each two men strong) inside three BMD-2 airborne infantry combat vehicles for the first time.
Spain: The country's airborne capability is growing both in experience and expertise. In the past two years it has embarked on a programme of exercise-co-operation with European countries, including the UK. Spanish paratroopers use the US-developed T-10 parachute. While they have transport aircraft, their paratroopers mainly mount jumps at company-group level.
Turkey: The Turkish Army maintains a brigade-sized parachute and air assault force. While it continues to field parachute troops, in recent years it has not exercised anything bigger than a battalion drop. Turkey has often jumped with US forces and in the main its airborne infantry is assigned to the para-commando role.
United Kingdom: The British Army maintains a brigade-level joint parachute and helicopter assault force. The UK is the only NATO member to use the Low-Level Parachute, enabling aircraft to fly at low level under radar and troops to exit at 250 ft. The United Kingdom has mounted air assaults in Afghanistan and Kosovo and has planned for operational parachute assaults.
United States: The United States has the biggest air assault force in the world, with the 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd Airborne Division maintaining a parachute capability. In the past 12 months the 75th Ranger Regiment has made 7,000 jumps using the new T-11 canopy, updated from the Y-10, with the new parachute expected to enter full service in the next couple of years.
JDW
Last posted:2013-06-28
In an age of global uncertainty, the future of airborne forces is perhaps stronger than it has ever been, albeit on a smaller, more focused scale, writes David Reynolds
Airborne forces across the NATO alliance and beyond are restructuring themselves to ensure they can deliver tactical and strategic 'effect' across the spectrum of modern warfare to meet a range of diverse threats. In January 2013 the French Army demonstrated the tactical significance of airborne operations when it conducted a static line combat parachute assault into Mali on a drop zone north of Timbuktu. A company-plus-sized unit of 120 paratroopers was dropped in darkness, its mission to seize Tessalit Airport and block any escape route for Islamists into the northern deserts. At the same time the French launched a helicopter assault from the south. The operation was a textbook success.
Parachute assault as a means of theatre entry offers unrivalled speed of reaction and can project power in support of political intent. Moreover, airborne forces also have the capability to poise, literally, in mid-air or at a forward operating base, thus enabling a final decision to prosecute a 'theatre entry' to be delayed until the last possible minute or reversed in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Retained in the order of battle of a number of countries, including Argentina, China, France, Germany, Jordan, Russia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the primary role of such forces has evolved to the extent that although battalion- and brigade-level parachute deployments remain a core capability, they are no longer the primary function of airborne forces.
Fiscal pressures
New force structures are being adopted as nations face the challenge of rebalancing resources amid growing fiscal pressure on defence budgets. Australia has reduced its parachute capability and invested in aviation regiments, while several South American countries have also reshaped their airborne forces around helicopter operations. Canada, Russia, and the UK have all recently carried out reviews of their armed forces, which in the main have seen a 'smaller but more positive' future for airborne operations. In the UK the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review identified 16 Air Assault Brigade as a core element of its new deployable land forces structure in the Future Force 2020 plan, listing it alongside UK special forces (UKSF) for high-readiness operations. The brigade comprises two parachute- and two helicopter-borne or air-landed battalions that rotate responsibility for the Airborne Task Force (ABTF). The current 'secondment' of one UK parachute battalion to UKSF as the core element of the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) has not, according to senior officers, affected the brigade's ability to deploy a battle group.
In the 21st century a mixed fleet of attack and battlefield helicopters, together with tactical air transport, provides strategic air maneuver and enhanced firepower. Air-maneuver forces provide governments with the ability to act in circumstances that would otherwise render them powerless. This amalgamation of parachute- and helicopter-borne forces deployable by strategic airlift has enhanced this capability and shaped new doctrine. These concepts can be deployed separately or in tandem, generating combined groupings that increase fighting power and enhance the flexibility of such forces, allowing mission objectives to be altered at short notice to influence or mount a deception plan and ultimately dislocate an enemy's will to fight. Air maneuver operations exploit the ability of airlifters (such as the Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, and the new Airbus A400 Atlas) to provide strategic reach and can incorporate a mixture of assets tailored to the mission to deliver men and materiel with: combat support (CS), in the form of artillery and engineers; combat service support (CSS) delivering logistics; and combat command support (CCS) elements providing command and control (C2).
The arrival of the A400M will deliver significant strategic airlift to military air maneuver capability in the UK, as well as Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, and Turkey. A total of 174 aircraft have been ordered by these countries, with 22 heading for Royal Air Force (RAF) Brize Norton in southern England. The A400M is able to carry 116 military personnel and vehicles and helicopters (including the Boeing CH-47 Chinook) that are too large or too heavy for previous-generation airlifters in Western European service. The RAF will take delivery of its first A400M in 2014, and initial parachute trials - which included a team from the RAF Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit at Brize Norton - have already taken place.
The types of air maneuver that deliver troops on the ground require advance forces in the form of pathfinders to deploy ahead of the main force to secure the initial area of operation. Employing high-altitude low-opening (HALO) or high-altitude high-opening (HAHO) free-fall parachute entry to evade radar, they are inserted up to 24 hours ahead of the main force to assess enemy forces and threats, as well as geographical obstacles. They also identify, mark, and secure drop zones and, as aircraft make their approach, indicate to pilots the release points for dropping their sticks of paratroopers. Similar procedures are followed for guiding in helicopter-borne troops.
Parachute operations are mounted from a forward mounting base (FMB) to insert a battle group on the ground. The UK's ABTF requires 15 transport aircraft to lift the entire force along with its vehicles and equipment. The CS artillery element, comprising 105 mm Light Guns, are deployed on Medium Stressed Platforms (MSPs) and dropped from a second stream of C-130 transport aircraft. The process of mounting a battle group is known as a combined air operation (COMAO). It requires immense planning and DE confliction, with a C2 platform sat above the stream of C-130s, electronic warfare (EW) aircraft providing point and flank cover, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) flying ahead to provide surveillance of the drop zones, and fighter strike aircraft to 'steal' a corridor of air protection, as well as carry out the additional roles of reconnaissance, suppression of enemy air defences, and close air support (CAS).
Air-landed forces deliver troops to the airhead, often after an airport has been seized by a parachute force. The concept was used during the Second World War when soldiers arrived by glider, although today's technology and tactical delivery allow more men to be put on the ground in a short space of time. Both UK and NATO forces deploy two similar systems, with the British listing them as tactical air-land operations (TALO) and rapid air-land operations (RALO). A TALO delivers air-landed soldiers in C-130s or C-17s to a secured airfield. A RALO plans for aircraft to land and deploy vehicles and stores before taking off immediately. Such tactics allow commanders to generate force resources quickly.
The helicopter air assault delivered in support helicopters will ideally mount from a nearby FMB and be escorted by attack helicopters that will undertake, if required, joint air attack (JAAT) missions to suppress enemy activity and provide flank protection. Air assault was used as a means of theatre entry in Kosovo and has been widely used in Afghanistan by coalition forces, with Canada, the UK, and the US being the main exponents. C2 of air assault formations has grown significantly to meet the complex management and DE confliction of timelines and control of air space. An air assault formation, with the support of an Airborne Assault Command and Control Platform - rotary or fixed wing, depending on the mission requirement - can execute the delivery of all three 'air maneuver' capabilities (parachute, air-landed, and helicopter-borne assault), as well as attack helicopter support, all within one headquarters.
Each air maneuver function has its own desk and supporting personnel. In the case of the UK's 16 Air Assault Brigade, a brigade planning group was expanded from 47 in its pure parachute role to more than 160 in the air assault environment, with the numbers increasing for multinational operations. Endurance planning and the positioning of a forward air refueling point for rotary aviation is critical. Step-Up, the process of moving a headquarters as a formation advances, is a significant challenge and is often exercised using the 'standalone' skills of parachute, air-landing, or helicopter-borne operations according to the mission requirement.
In 1996 US and UK airborne forces mounted the biggest post-war air assault exercise in the US in the form of Exercise 'Purple Star', when more than 11,000 personnel took part in parachute, air-landed, and helicopter-borne assaults in a night mission with a full CAMO escort involving low-level tactical approach and joint C2. The UK's then 5 Airborne Brigade (later designated 16 Air Assault Brigade following amalgamation with 24 Airmobile Brigade in 1999) deployed in total, while 3Commando Brigade Royal Marines mounted helicopter-borne assaults with a battalion of the Royal Gurkha Rifles being air-landed. It was the first occasion on which a Scimitar Combat Vehicle - Reconnaissance (Tracked) was inserted on an MSP. The parachute element of 5 Airborne Brigade jumped with the US T-10 parachute, which has been in service for 50 years and is in use across the globe with Asian, Egyptian, European, and South American forces. The parachute in service with UK armed forces since the mid-1990s is the Irvin-GQ Low-Level Parachute (LLP), whose light bulb-shaped canopy permits personnel to be dropped at 250 ft.
In the US a new generation of parachutes is being introduced with the development of the Airborne Systems T-11. First tested at the US Army's Airborne School at Fort Benning in Georgia, the new canopy has been fielded by the 75th Ranger Regiment (which has logged more than 3,000jumps on the new canopy) and the 82nd Airborne Division. It will be in full service across the US Army by 2014. The T-11 differs from its predecessor, the T-10, in that the canopy deployment is smoother, with oscillation minimized, while the chute is designed to carry a heavier load - about 45kg more and closer to current load requirements.
Furthermore, the T-11 has a canopy that is larger than that of its predecessors and square shaped, providing a slower descent rate. Lieutenant Colonel Jon Ring at the US Army's Airborne School at Fort Benning said the introduction of the new parachute is a major milestone for the US military. He explained: "This is the first new canopy in 51 years. It is a totally new concept. The parachute has been redesigned to take into account the additional equipment and body armour worn by today's soldiers and will take us forward in future operations."
Canada, which has a limited military parachute capability since the disbandment of the Canadian Airborne Regiment several years ago, has ordered 600 of the new T-11s to replace its CT-1 canopies. It is understood the parachute will be used by Canada's special forces units. Airborne Systems has also introduced a new-generation canopy specifically for use by special forces. Called the Intruder and incorporating a new long-range oxygen system to provide additional in-flight endurance, it is designed for HALO and HAHO operations and has been selected as the system of choice for the US Army's RA-1 system, replacing the Legacy MC4/5 system.
The most significant development in parachute technology in the last 50 years has been the wing suit, although it has as not yet been adopted for military use. Comprising a one-piece garment with fabric 'wings' that join the arms of the suit to the body, it enables a free-fall parachutist to generate high speeds while 'tracking' over long distances before deploying the parachute. At present, the suit is mainly a sports parachute, but has been used in the UK by The Parachute Regiment's Red Devils free-fall display team. It has obvious applications for special forces, although it is unclear as to how the additional weight of a soldier's equipment would affect its performance.
During the last decade, the mounting of an airborne battle group has proved a challenge for some European nations, with key formations engaged in medium-scale war fighting in Afghanistan. Despite the high operational tempo of conflicts and smaller operations in Libya and Mali, which have caused a heavy drain on its tactical transport aircraft resources, the UK has maintained its airborne battle group capability, focusing its future concept of operations on company-level formations while maintaining the capability to 'scale up' at any time with the use for limited periods of the Small-Scale Contingency Task Force, which was based on a company group and used as the model for forces across NATO. While the US and Russia continue to field the largest operational formations of paratroopers in the world, many NATO forces now focus their training cycle and readiness around company-sized formations. These contribute to an 'on call' task force and combine to deliver the three air-assault elements, with each asset retaining the capability to scale up to a full battalion if required. This highly flexible air maneuver formation provides the Land Component Commander with an ability to increase his or her area of influence and, hence, area of operations.
At the same time, joint operations - both airborne and air assault, as well as C2 - have increased within NATO. France, Germany, Spain, the UK, and the US regularly participate in company-level exercises to develop interoperability skills in planning and battle space management. The UK has increased its 'joint skills' significantly by jumping, at company level, with French, Polish, Spanish, Ukrainian, and US airborne forces in the past 12 months to broaden 'military co-operation' for the future.
During Exercise 'Joint Warrior', conducted in Scotland in March 2013, French troops from the 11e Brigade Parachutiste deployed with the UK's 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) in West Freugh, six miles inland from Stranraer. Commenting on the exercise, French Colonel Bruno Helluy said: "During one year 16 Air Assault Brigade and 11e Brigade Parachutiste has worked together to be able to do this kind of intervention. This exercise demonstrates that we can plan and conduct operations together, both airborne and air assault." Colonel Andrew Jackson, Deputy Commander, 16 Air Assault Brigade, added:
"'Joint Warrior' has given us the opportunity to demonstrate that, as a bi-national land component with our sister French brigade, we have rapidly developed a credible and progressively validated capability with them."
As a means of rapid reaction, the concept of parachute assault, as well as air-landed and helicopter air assault, have firmly proved themselves as a key element of future operations. The US military's investment in the new T-11 and the adoption of the new Intruder parachute clearly demonstrates that parachuting is a key part of future operations. Smaller airborne operations are likely to be a key component in contingency planning, delivering air-landed and air assault forces as an intervention force in a joint environment.
David Reynolds is a JDW Correspondent, based in Plymouth.
THE GROWTH OF AIRBORNE FORCES
Today, parachute-trained formations are a core element of most nations' armed forces, often sitting alongside air assault components. In all, more than 50 countries hold some form of parachute capability, ranging from company-level to division-sized formations. Leonardo da Vinci is credited with inventing the parachute, but it was Germany, Italy, and Russia that initially adopted it for use in warfare. Germany was the first to use airborne forces in a major role, deploying its Fallschirmjäger in Denmark and Norway in 1940 and subsequently in its invasion of the Low Countries. These operations were followed by the invasion of Crete in 1941 in which an entire German division was parachuted and air-landed into battle, albeit suffering severe casualties that resulted in Adolf Hitler declaring: "The day of the Fallschirmjäger is over."
British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill was the driving force behind the formation of the UK's airborne forces, having seen Germany's highly successful incorporation of them in its blitzkrieg strategy. Allied airborne operations, however, including those carried out by the Russians, incurred heavy casualties as was witnessed in Normandy in June 1944 and three months later around Arnhem during Operation 'Market Garden'.
However, such an airborne capability has not always enjoyed political support. In the years following the Second World War the allies reduced the size of their airborne forces and, following the political fallout of the Anglo/French intervention by parachute and helicopter assault at Suez in 1956, there was little in the way of political support for them for almost a decade. In the UK the Army Board saw little role for parachute troops or helicopter assault and thus focused investment on armour and the British Army of the Rhine.
Nevertheless, the period from the 1950s onwards saw the resumption of airborne operations in different parts of the globe. During the mid-1950s the French employed helicopters to insert airborne units during counter-insurgency operations in Algeria. Almost a decade later, in 1963 during the Vietnam War, the concept of helicopter-borne airmobile operations was conceived and thereafter developed extensively to include the use of helicopter gunships and medical evacuation (Medevac) helicopters. There was, however, only one combat parachute insertion during the Vietnam War, which took place in February 1967 during Operation 'Unction City'. In Asia, the early 1970s saw the Indian Parachute Regiment drop its 2nd Parachute Group during operations against Pakistani forces in 1971, thereafter expanding its capability.
In the UK, meanwhile, the 1960s saw numerous deployments of UK airborne forces overseas, but the cost of retaining the three regular army battalions of The Parachute Regiment at 'readiness to jump' was seen as unnecessary and the 'in-date jump capability' was thus reduced to one battalion. In March 1977 the UK's last parachute formation, 16 Parachute Brigade, was disbanded and thereafter there was just one 'in-role' parachute battalion within the British order of battle, with the regiment's two other battalions being deployed out of role. At the same time, however, Russia and the United States invested increasing resources into their airborne forces.
In 1978 the Turkish Army mounted a parachute assault into northern Cyprus, while in the same year the French, who have always retained the role of parachute insertion as a means of rapid deployment, dropped a battalion at Kolwezi in Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Five years year later, during the 1983 Invasion of Grenada, a composite force of the US Army's two battalions of the 75th Ranger Regiment made a combat jump over Point Salines International Airport during Operation 'Just Cause'.
In the UK, following the success of The Parachute Regiment's 2 and 3 PARA in the Falklands War in 1982, the Army Board re-designated 5 Infantry Brigade as 5 Airborne Brigade, with full battle group- and brigade-level parachute drops being reintroduced. In 1989, during the US invasion of Panama, the US 82nd Airborne Division made its first combat jump in more than 40 years. Seven years later in 1996, the UK's 5 Airborne Brigade planned and prepared for operations in Zaire. The plan, codenamed 'Purposeful', was to mount a battle group parachute assault into Zaire on a humanitarian mission. It was later cancelled, but the capability had been identified and the initial parachute assault was to be followed by a TALO carried out by 45 Commando RM.
Following the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001, part of the initial US response included a small airborne assault into Afghanistan. During the following month, a team from the C2 element of the regimental headquarters of the 75th Ranger Regiment jumped into Kandahar to secure an airfield. Meanwhile, a second drop, which included British personnel, took place at Bagram north of Kabul. In February 2003, elements of The Parachute Regiment conducted rehearsal jumps north of Kuwait in readiness for orders to seize oil fields if required. A month later, US forces conducted a combat jump from 15 C-17s into northern Iraq to seize a desert airfield. During their deployment to Helmand in 2006, the headquarters of the UK's 3 PARA planned company-sized parachute assaults in support of US forces, but the operations were cancelled.
Parachute operations have not been confined to Western forces. In 2009, during Operations 'Black Thunderstorm' and 'Rah-e-Nijat', Pakistani paratroopers conducted combat jumps against Taliban forces in northwest Pakistan to seize control of an important mountain area.
Most recently, French airborne forces mounted a parachute assault into Mali. In April 2013 NATO's Defence College in Italy hosted a conference and workshop entitled 'The Future of Airborne Forces in NATO'. Hosted by the US airborne community and attended by Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK, it focused on ways to enhance interoperability and share best practices for airborne operations in the future.
GLOBAL CAPABILITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Argentina: Brigade-strength formation on paper, but a lack of investment has resulted in the capability's erosion over the past decade, with parachute training being maintained on a small level due to a lack of transport aircraft and fiscal cuts to the defence budget. Helicopter assault has suffered from similar restrictions.
Australia: Maintains a parachute force at battlegroup level. The 3rd Royal Australian Regiment (parachute role) lost its capability last year, but the Australian Department of Defence has invested in helicopter lift and the creation of aviation regiments. The country's special forces maintain the main parachute role.
Brazil: Brigade-sized airborne force that exercises regularly and maintains a small force at high readiness. Significant elements of the brigade are assigned to anti-drugs operations. Well-trained and supplied with US equipment: possibly one of the strongest forces in South America.
Canada: Airborne role assigned to special forces at battalion level. The country's parachute regiment was disbanded several years ago. The Canadian Armed Forces have recently ordered 600 new T-11 parachutes and required spare components from Airborne Systems in a contract estimated to be worth CAD3.6 million for its Special Operations Regiment.
China: The People's Liberation Army (PLA) maintains division-strength forces in the 15th Airborne Corps, all under the command of the PLA. Its main task in recent years has been in support of emergency responses to earthquakes. In May 2008 several hundred Chinese paratroopers jumped into Sichuan Province after an earthquake hit.
France: The French military operates a brigade-sized parachute formation, as well as a special forces brigade. The 11th Brigade Parachutists provides a reaction force and is currently equipped to mount battalion and brigade parachute assaults. Like other nations, its doctrine has moved towards smaller force delivery.
Germany: The Federal Ministry of Defence maintains a brigade-sized force of parachute troops. In 2002 the German military created an air mobile division equipped with US Sikorsky CH-53 helicopters. During recent exercises in January 2013 French paratroopers dropped from German Air Force transport aircraft in a NATO exercise.
India: A brigade-sized airborne force that has been actively involved in counter-terrorist operations in Kashmir. Indian parachute forces, which also adopt the helicopter air assault capability, have in the past two years trained with forces from Bangladesh, France, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, and the US.
Italy: A brigade-sized force that regularly trains with its NATO counterparts. The force has seen cutbacks to logistics and helicopters (within its air mobile role) as a result of government budget reviews. In the past 10 years it has been deployed in Iraq, East Timor, Lebanon, and Afghanistan.
Malaysia: A brigade-sized airborne force that exercises on a regular basis and is maintained as the country's rapid deployment force. Malaysian paratroopers are trained in HALO techniques and have mainly deployed in anti-terrorist operations. In 2000 they deployed to Sipadan and Pandanan islands after hostages were taken.
Pakistan: A brigade-sized formation developed on the US Army's airborne structure. The Pakistani parachute force has been deployed in Kashmir. A well-equipped force with a long-established history, it mounted an operational combat jump in 2009 into the tribal areas on the border with Afghanistan.
Russia: Russia maintains division-strength forces. It mounts regular exercises and in 2012, the 106th Guards Airborne Division was stationed at Khomyakovo, near Tula, in central Russia. During exercises in 2012 it dropped three combat crews (each two men strong) inside three BMD-2 airborne infantry combat vehicles for the first time.
Spain: The country's airborne capability is growing both in experience and expertise. In the past two years it has embarked on a programme of exercise-co-operation with European countries, including the UK. Spanish paratroopers use the US-developed T-10 parachute. While they have transport aircraft, their paratroopers mainly mount jumps at company-group level.
Turkey: The Turkish Army maintains a brigade-sized parachute and air assault force. While it continues to field parachute troops, in recent years it has not exercised anything bigger than a battalion drop. Turkey has often jumped with US forces and in the main its airborne infantry is assigned to the para-commando role.
United Kingdom: The British Army maintains a brigade-level joint parachute and helicopter assault force. The UK is the only NATO member to use the Low-Level Parachute, enabling aircraft to fly at low level under radar and troops to exit at 250 ft. The United Kingdom has mounted air assaults in Afghanistan and Kosovo and has planned for operational parachute assaults.
United States: The United States has the biggest air assault force in the world, with the 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd Airborne Division maintaining a parachute capability. In the past 12 months the 75th Ranger Regiment has made 7,000 jumps using the new T-11 canopy, updated from the Y-10, with the new parachute expected to enter full service in the next couple of years.
JDW
