Home Air RAF parachute test team completes 500 jumps in Arizona

Group of skydivers in full gear and parachutes walking together across a field at sunset with mountains in the distance at the horizon. — In April 2026 personnel from the Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit (JADTEU) conducted Exercise Rising Gains 26-1, a bi-annual exercise that enables the Parachuting Test Team (PTT) to both refine their parachuting ability while also completing necessary training modules crucial to their role at JADTEU. Held in Eloy Arizona, PTT worked with military parachute packers to ensure a smooth and efficient workflow. Supporting PTT are personnel from the Airborne Delivery Wing (ADW) and the Tactical Medical Wing (TMW) During the three week exercise PTT conducted training such as formation flying, jumping with different types of parachutes, air patrolling and cut aways. Officer Commanding PTT, Squadron Leader Linwood, remarked “Ex RISING GAINS 1/26 saw the Parachuting Test Team undertake demanding training in Arizona, ensuring they are ready to safely test, develop and deliver military parachuting capability for Defence” The Joint Air Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit (JADTEU) is an Air and Space Warfare Centre Unit. It comprises approximately 105 (Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Civil Service) personnel and is commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel. The primary role of JADTEU is to conduct operational trials and evaluation to develop the delivery by air of manpower, machines and material on behalf of sponsors. In addition, it provides advice/recommendations to MOD sponsors, other government departments, civilian industry and foreign governments on all air transport matters.

RAF parachute test team completes 500 jumps in Arizona

May 14, 2026

The Royal Air Force’s Parachuting Test Team has completed Exercise Rising Gains in Arizona, conducting more than 500 descents across 64 sorties over three weeks as part of a programme designed to maintain and develop specialist military parachuting capability.

At the centre of the exercise was the Test Parachutist Course, which prepares personnel to operate beyond routine parachuting tasks.

Training covered advanced canopy control, formation parachuting, and precision landing, alongside more demanding serials including intentional cutaway procedures, in which parachutists practise the controlled release of a primary canopy in flight to simulate and respond to equipment malfunctions. The course is designed to qualify personnel to test and evaluate military parachuting equipment and techniques across a range of complex environments.

Arizona’s stable climate and available airspace made it a suitable location for the volume and variety of activity the exercise demanded. The team had to adapt to changing weather conditions throughout the three-week period, with safety planning and execution described as central to maintaining the programme’s tempo without compromising standards.