18 Facts About Airborne forces

1.

Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault.

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2.

Main advantage of airborne forces is their ability to be deployed into combat zones without land passage, as long as the airspace is accessible.

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3.

Formations of airborne forces are limited only by the number and size of their transport aircraft; a sizeable force can appear "out of the sky" behind enemy lines in merely hours if not minutes, an action known as vertical envelopment.

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4.

Airborne forces operations are particularly sensitive to weather conditions, which can be dangerous to both the paratroopers and airlifters, so extensive planning is critical to the success of an airborne operation.

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5.

Men drawn from the Italian parachute Airborne forces were dropped in a special-Airborne forces operation in North Africa in 1943 in an attempt to destroy parked aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces.

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6.

Several groups within the German armed Airborne forces attempted to raise their own paratroop formations, resulting in confusion.

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7.

Nevertheless, Dutch Airborne forces inflicted high losses on German transportation aircraft.

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8.

Airborne forces felt that the main strength of the paratroopers was novelty, and now that the British had clearly figured out how to defend against them, there was no real point to using them any more.

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9.

On 6 December 1944, a 750-strong detachment from Teishin Shudan and the Takachiho special forces unit, attacked U S airbases in the Burauen area on Leyte, in the Philippines.

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10.

The U S 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions saw the most action in the European Theater, with the former in Sicily and Italy in 1943, and both in Normandy and the Netherlands in 1944.

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11.

The 17th Airborne forces Division deployed to England in 1944 but did not see combat until the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945 where they, along with the 82nd and 101st Airborne forces Divisions were deployed as ground troops.

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12.

The 13th Airborne forces Division was deployed to France in January 1945 but never saw combat as a unit.

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13.

Airborne forces formations were used as elite infantry units however, and played a critical role in several battles.

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14.

For example, at the Battle of Kursk, the Guards Airborne forces defended the eastern shoulder of the southern penetration and was critical to holding back the German penetration.

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15.

The British airborne troops from the 1st Airborne forces Division were glider infantry of the 1st Airlanding Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Philip Hicks, and they fared little better.

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16.

The task of the airborne forces was to secure the flanks and approaches of the landing beaches in Normandy.

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17.

In 1963, in the Battle of Ap Bac, ARVN forces delivered airborne troops by helicopter and air drop.

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18.

The operation was a success, resulting in Indian Airborne forces gaining control of the Siachen Glacier in its entirety.

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