Last week, No. 47 Squadron joined forces with 16 Air Assault Brigade, to deploy Paratroopers into Ukraine for the first time.
Over 200 British Paratroopers were dropped into Ternivsky training area, southern Ukraine, for Exercise Joint Endeavour. Building on the strong relationship developed between the two nations’ armed forces in recent years, the exercise provides both nations with vital experience of deploying rapidly from air to land to counter threats.
Number 47 Squadron are a highly trained specialist unit who routinely operate in the most demanding operational environments, providing airdrop of stores and personnel, and tactical landing capability anywhere in the world. Their involvement in Ukraine showcased this ability as they completed a long-range insertion of 16 Air Assault Brigade, flying for over 10 hours each day to complete their missions. To accomplish this, they not only had to get to the drop zone within an extremely tight time bracket, having first entered low level as a formation, but they also had to complete air-to-air refuelling from the RAF’s Voyager fleet on the long journey home. The daily missions started and ended at RAF Brize Norton, where both the Hercules and the Voyager are based. 47 Squadron operated alongside multiple RAF airborne assets, including Typhoons, Sentry and ISR aircraft, which created a dynamic and complex environment.
One of the pilots, who flew on every one of the 10-hour missions, commented: “Our role is to get the troops to the drop zone covertly, safely, and on time so that they can achieve their mission on the ground. Flying at low level in formation adds extra complexity to the task and it was an amazing feeling of accomplishment to get the guys out on the second we said we would. Not only that, but we air-dropped 8000 kg of essential equipment, including ammunition and vehicles, to help the troops achieve their task.
“We were generally arriving at the Voyager having already flown for almost 8 hours, which made the refuelling challenging. To ensure that we could transport as many troops to the drop zone as possible we had to work with a very tight fuel plan. Couple that with the fact we were flying in formation for the entire mission, meant we had to be very aware of the other aircraft’s fuel state to make sure we could both get home together.
“The mission took a great deal of planning and coordination but showcased how well 47 Squadron and the C-130J Hercules can operate in a huge variety of disciplines and how effectively it works with other members of defence. I was really proud to be a part of this mission as part of such a capable and qualified squadron.”
Exercise Joint Endeavour, which will total up to 8,000 personnel and also feature a small number of troops from the USA and Canada, is the first multinational exercise in Ukraine since the country achieved NATO Enhanced Opportunity Partner status in June. As an enhanced opportunity partner, Ukraine will gain further experience working closely with NATO militaries, sharing best practice and matching capabilities.
The UK and Ukraine have built a strong defence relationship in recent years, with British troops having trained over 18,000 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the five years since the start of the UK’s training mission in the country, Operation Orbital. Established in 2015 following the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia a year earlier, Operation Orbital is a demonstration of the UK’s unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, last month stepped up the UK’s support to Ukraine even further, announcing that the UK would lead a multi-national Maritime Training Initiative for the Ukrainian Navy. Courses will be delivered by the Royal Navy and naval personnel from Sweden, Canada and Denmark in a range of areas.
