UK troops to trial foot-launched military paragliders

British troops are preparing to trial a new foot-launched military paraglider developed by Wiltshire-based start-up Blakcro with around £6 million in Ministry of Defence support, the UK Defence Journal understands.

The Ministry of Defence said on 28 August that the system has been designed to allow an individual operator to launch without a runway, helicopter or transport aircraft, with the Royal Marines and Parachute Regiment expected to trial the concept in the coming months.

Blakcro has developed the system with support from UK Defence Innovation, or UKDI, which acts as an entry point into defence for companies that have not previously worked with the Ministry of Defence. The company is supplying systems during 2026 and into 2027.

According to the MOD, the aircraft can be packed into a case approximately the size of a large rucksack and assembled in under eight minutes, including in darkness. The department also says it has been designed with reduced acoustic, visual and radar signatures for use during covert insertions.

The system is built around a UK-made titanium airframe and, according to the MOD, can travel up to 200 miles under its own power. It has also been designed to accommodate equipment including body armour, night-vision devices and weapon mounts.

The MOD said the technology is already in operational use and that Blakcro holds contracts in the UK and with NATO allies. The planned Royal Marines and Parachute Regiment activity would examine the concept as a means of individual air mobility for British forces.

Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard said in the release: “With UK Defence Innovation supporting SMEs like Blakcro from the drawing board through to deployment, we are building a more resilient, homegrown defence supply chain and ensuring our armed forces receive the pioneering equipment that can give them the edge on the battlefield.”

He added: “Defence has a new way of working with industry, backing British innovation to deliver cutting-edge capability for our armed forces and good jobs in regions like Wiltshire.”

Blakcro first engaged with UKDI through its Open Call for Innovation and has since received support across two other projects. One of those projects received a Defence Innovation Loan, which the MOD said helped the company move from development of a single product into full production.

The company has grown from three employees to 11 since receiving UKDI support and now holds three prime contracts involving the UK and NATO allies, according to the department.

Sam Wedgwood, founder and chief executive of Blakcro, said in the release: “From a UKDI success story perspective, we have very rapidly moved from base technology in 2024, through UKDI-supported rapid innovation, through to purchase, through to operational use by 2026.”

Wedgwood added: “We could not have done that at this pace without the support we have received – not just the funding, but the commercialisation support and the access to the right people. UKDI kept telling us we were special. I think it’s mutual.”

The concept differs from conventional military parachuting and air assault methods by giving the individual operator a self-contained means of getting airborne from the ground. A pilot launches the system on foot rather than from an aircraft, while propulsion provides sustained powered flight after take-off.

The MOD is presenting the programme as part of a wider effort to bring smaller UK companies into defence procurement and accelerate technologies from early development into operational use. For Blakcro, the next stage will include the planned trials with the Royal Marines and Parachute Regiment as the services assess how the system could be used in practice.