A Chinese special forces unit from the Eastern Theater recently practiced parachuting into the water from a helicopter, according to a report from CCTV today. A brigade of the 71st Group Army of the People’s Liberation Army and an Army Aviation Unit recently organized parachuting training in an unfamiliar water area in northern Jiangsu, in order to “harden the actual combat skills of the troops in global operations and three-dimensional penetration.”
At an airport in northern Jiangsu, parachuting team members quickly grouped and boarded a helicopter. During the flight, the pilot constantly adjusts the flight attitude to minimize the interference of the airflow to the helicopter, creating good conditions for the parachutists to leave the helicopter. The helicopter arrives over the predetermined water area, and the dropper conducts a final inspection of the parachute gear. The departure signal sounded, and the team members jumped out of the hatch in turn.
Due to the rapid change of wind speed and wind direction on the water, under the guidance of the ground guide, the parachutists pull apart in the air and fly to the predetermined waters in an orderly manner. According to the changes in the airflow in the air, pull the joystick and open the exhaust hole to continuously adjust flight direction and speed.
As an important form of parachuting under complex conditions, parachuting above water is one of the necessary skills for troops to perform operations behind enemy lines. Unlike land skydiving, the preparation work before landing on water skydiving is more cumbersome and complicated. When a skydiver descends to a distance of 200 meters from the surface of the water, he must release his helmet. When 150 meters from the surface of the water, the chest hook, seat belt, and leg hooks must be gradually released. Before landing in the water, it is necessary to choose the parachute or release harness system to enter the water, which puts forward higher requirements on the psychological quality and parachuting skills of the parachutists. After about 2 minutes, the team members entered the water safely one by one.
Meng Min, commander of the brigade of the 71st Group Army, said that the purpose of organizing parachuting is to test the parachuting skills and penetration skills of special forces members, and to further enhance the ability of special forces members in multi-domain operations and three-dimensional penetration. In the next step, we will organize various forms of parachute training such as night skydiving and armed skydiving, so as to lay a solid foundation for special forces personnel to perform diversified combat missions.
According to public information, the 71st Group Army of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army was formed in April 2017 and belongs to the Eastern Theater of China. Its predecessor was the 12th Group Army of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and is based in Xuzhou, Jiangsu.