I don't think we've had a parachute drop in combat that was larger than a battalion since World War II. With air defenses able to shoot down missiles, are troop transports really able to survive that kind of gauntlet?
I wonder how useful parachuting is these days:
The U.S. Army and the National Indonesian Armed Forces, along with other allies and partners, coordinated a complex airborne assault mission into South Sumatra for the first time as part of Super Garuda Shield that wrapped up earlier this month.
A battalion out of the 11th Airborne Division based in Alaska conducted the airborne assault operation amid a variety of other operations taking place throughout Indonesia that were mostly centered in Java.
I think of parachutists are simply having a badge of elite status that reflects other training and esprit de corps. The narrow skill to drop from a perfectly good airplane might not be very useful in war.
Even Russia's large airborne force is now just a bunch of motor rifle units with better marketing. The replacements for all the casualties in the once-elite formations lack much training at all, let alone airborne training.
For tactical insertions behind enemy lines, helicopters are probably the way to go--if even that is possible these days given that armored attack helicopters that can shoot back may be too vulnerable for operations forward of our front lines. We'll see how the V-280 tilt-rotor (planned for 2030) works for the Army in deep missions rather than for faster behind-the-lines movements.
Yet I'm wary of saying we should stop training for parachute operations given that the training is part of what makes our airborne troops elite. You never know what is key in the aura that creates elite units.
Maybe the Marines should consider that intangible factor as they transform their troops who once assaulted defended beaches into coastal defense units.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
NOTE: I'm adding updates on the Last Hamas War (and the expanded war on Hezbollah) in this post.NOTE: You may also read my posts on Substack, at The Dignified Rant: Evolved.