One of the best and decisive demonstrations of the flexibility of Air Power is the use of paratroopers by the armed forces of the nation.
In a matter of hours, a massive concentration of forces can be assembled at a tactically critical location to tilt the battle in their favor. However, the possibility of bad exits or injuries during landings in parachute operations is not rare. A paratrooper, invariably carrying many kilograms of equipment, jumping from an aircraft inherently poses risks.
Parachuting, whether static line (where the parachute opens automatically upon exit) or free fall, is inherently hazardous. Recognizing this risk, parachute training is long, intricate, and demanding. It also explains why paratroopers are often regarded as a level above conventional troops.
In a static line jump, they can be dropped close to the objective area, like in the 1971 war Tangail drop, which was 100% successful.
As time passed and weapons became more potent, transport aircraft became increasingly easier to target at lower altitudes. Gradually, more tactics evolved wherein more flexible parachutes were designed, and different ways of delivering paratroopers accurately were developed.
In a traditional (Static Line) jump from a transport aircraft, the paratroopers would line up and jump just above the dropping zone (DZ). The height would possibly be a thousand odd feet above the ground. In the modern scenario, at such heights, the aircraft and paratroopers were both at risk to ground fire.
It was in November 1970 during the Vietnam War when a six-man team, named SOG Recon Team Florida, conducted a parachute descent from an altitude of 18,000 feet (5,500 m) into Laos for a mission.
At 18,000 feet, an aircraft is relatively safe from small-caliber weapons but still enabled good accuracy. This was because after the paratroopers jumped out, they waited to open the parachutes at a much lower altitude, accelerating due to gravity, and could actually reach terminal velocity. The effect of winds was much less, and accuracy was high. This technique is known as High Altitude Low Opening (HALO).
As the navigation systems improved and became accessible to every troop with GPS and good guidable parachutes, it could be possible to drop paratroopers up to 35,000 feet above the ground far away from the DZ. The paratroopers would exit the aircraft and immediately open their guidable parachutes and fly up 40 miles into enemy territory just using their parachutes and navigation equipment. This technique was referred to as High Altitude High Opening (HAHO).
It’s all very well to see by day in clear weather at the objective area and analyze the DZ as one is getting closer. The most challenging and difficult part is to do the same by night. This technique is called Military Free Fall (MFF) or Combat Free Fall (CFF).
The enemy doesn’t even hear the sound of an aircraft, yet the troopers reach many miles into enemy territory, silently.
This is how the covert entry of US Special Forces was successfully carried out in Operation Desert Storm and every other operation.
Op Desert Storm (2 August 1990, to 16 January 1991) : That operation to oust the Iraqis is also known as the Gulf War; it came about after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein refused to withdraw his forces from Kuwait.
A Combat Free Faller would be equipped with a large size parachute, a reserve parachute, navigation equipment with redundancies incorporated, weapons and communication equipment and Night Vision glasses (NVG).
MFF are done only by the best of the paratroopers after extensive experience has been gained. The training is rigorous and time consuming.
A paratrooper quote sums it up– “Know this: no matter where you are, we can reach you.”