'Excitement' at largest parachute drop in decade

More than 270 soldiers have taken part in the UK largest military parachute drop in over a decade.

Personnel of the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, based in Colchester, Essex, jumped from just 800ft (244m) onto Salisbury Plain from three Atlas A400M transport aircraft, after a short flight from the fleet's base in Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.

It also involved safely dropping 24 tonnes of weapons, ammunition and food from a fourth aircraft.

The training, on Monday morning, was put on to demonstrate the airborne capability jointly provided by the British Army and the Royal Air Force (RAF) to deploy troops and equipment at short notice anywhere in the world.

The aircraft made five circuits, dropping 20 to 30 parachutes each time.

L/Cpl Robin Nichols said it had been "great to be involved in jumping with such a huge amount of blokes".

"It was quite an exciting time, you could feel it in the hangar this morning, the tension, a little bit."

The battalion is one of the components of 16 Air Assault Brigade.

Pte Tom Gilliatt, who had done eight jumps before this, said it had been his biggest yet.

"You're definitely looking around when you drop for anyone else coming down on top of you," he said.

Brig Ed Cartwright said: "The great advantage of parachuting is you combine the benefits of air power, so speed and reach, with the ability to put boots on the ground."

After landing, the soldiers set up defensive positions as part of the exercise.

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