RAF parachute test team completes 500 jumps in Arizona

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.