Paratroopers - why?

O' HE WAS JUST A ROOKIE TROOPER AND HE SURELY SHOOK WITH FRIGHT

>>35021703
He checked all his equipment and made sure his pack was tight!

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>>35021656
>static line jump airborne
>best troops
pick one

>>35021656
>who thought large-scale parachute operations were a good idea?

They were good in WW2, aren't even practical in todays time

Can't even begin to think of the last time we even did a combat jump, and even then it was a meme compared to what they are trained for

>>35021811
Afghanistan, youngster.

>>35021811
And Iraq.

The age of the paratrooper lasted about ten years. Because helicopters now exist. Traioning thousands of troops in parachuting is a total waste of training time that could be much better spent.

ITT: 15 year olds who dont remember anything.

God, day/k/are sucks.

Is air assault less hell on the knees?

>>35021863

in a real war most troops will be delivered by air, which is why airbone is kept around

>>35021656
Because sometimes putting a couple thousand soldiers where we want them in an instant is nice.

Modern large scale parachute operations likely won't have them landing on the objective itself, but landing away from the objective and then moving towards it. This is why the JLTV and the MPF program are such a big deal. Also whatever the new cavalry scout vehicle is.

>>35021811
The French in Mali

>>35021811
>>35021823
>>35021846
And the pretty much the entirety of Africa

Putting an armed force behind or in the middle of your enemies forces usually disrupts their operations.

Training your best to be airborne usually ensures they last long enough to fulfill said objecting.

>>35021811
They weren't good in WW2
in WW2 they used gliders

>>35021863
The Chinook has the capacity for 33 troopers, and a combat radius of 200 miles. A c130 has capacity for 64 paratroopers and a range of 2000 miles.

Do the math. Also one has a greater capacity to insert air-droppable vehicles with less fuel consumption vs towing it in underbelly.

>>35022001
Germans used them to great effect in Blitzkrieg, the failed gamble of Market Garden also was not a failure in delivery (planning or execution, though, I couldn't say).

>>35022072
Operation Deadstick worked pretty well too.

>>35021888
Fast-roping is actually harder on the knees.

"air assault" as in "ride helo to destination, step off landed helo" is not.

>>35021656

Because having instant strategic control of an area is really useful? Because behind logistics, force projection is key and projecting force behind enemy lines is checkmate. Because fuck you it's really cool.

>>35022033
And then there's the C17 (104 paratroopers), and I suppose you could technically ramp-jump a C5 (probably 200+ paratroopers) although we don't train on it.

>>35021935
Against Africans with AKs is one thing. Against a modern enemy with tanks and artillery and an air force is another.

>>35021984
>Putting an armed force behind or in the middle of your enemies forces usually disrupts their operations.

Pretty expensive way of disrupting enemy operations as opposed to, say, bombing them.

>>35022147

I hate to break it to you but nobody fights 'real' wars anymore.

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Out of curiosity, what would be more susceptible to AAA, MANPADs, etc.? A fleet of helicopters or a formation of transport planes fare better?

Do tactics such as hugging the landscape vs HALO/HAHO (do regular airborne even do these?) jumps mitigate any of it?

>>35022490
Both fleets would be slaughtered.

Which is why you'd use wild weasel flights to deal with the AAA beforehand.

>>35022147
>It wasn't the imaginary "ideal" war in my head so it doesn't count

Real war is what happens now, not what you think should happen.

>>35021656
Has anyone ever done an army jump? was it fun?

>>35021944
This

>doesn't understand audacity as a tactic
I bet you think that all wars are won by attrition.

>>35021726
He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar...

>>35021811
IDK how many times this has to be posted.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_Force_Viking

>>35021656
>Seriously, who thought large-scale parachute operations were a good idea?
German generals who were impressed by the displays of the Russian paratroops pre-Operation Barbarossa. The Germans thought that paratroops were a fucking ingenious way of delivering shock troops (and eventually engineered gliders as well). Unfortunately for the Russians, many of their paratroop leaders were executed during Stalin's purges for being "too friendly with the Germans" because of this.

The Germans then used paratroops during their blitzkrieg to great effect that shocked the world. America quickly began its own paratroop training program soon after. The rest is history.

I read a book all about the history of parachutes and paratroopers many years ago. There was some pretty fascinating stuff in it.

>>35022162
Bombs don't always do what you want and as soon as they have exploded, they are spent. Men on the ground can impact the battle long after they have landed.

>>35022884 You aint gonna jump no more!