operations -airborne

Airborne operations are missions conducted by specially trained airborne soldiers utilizing a wide variety of aerial transport to reach their target. Missions are normally offensive in nature and may be launched against enemy bases, air fields or infrastructure. Operations include the following:

• Air-landed operations where fixed-wing aircraft are used to land on pre-prepared landing strips to deliver a vehicle-borne assault force – mostly used to secure an airport or bridgehead.
• Parachuting operations, including HAHO (High Altitude High Opening), HALO (High Altitude Low Opening), freefall or static-line parachuting.
• Helicopter infiltration operations, where helicopters are used to insert specialised troops into their areas of operations. Troops can be delivered either by actually landing on an LZ, by parachute, by fast roping or by rappelling from the helicopter.
• In the Special Forces context, troops can also be inserted using a wide variety of civilian aircraft and techniques.