The last brigade-sized (plus Rangers) combat drop that
I know of was conducted in 1989 by a brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division
into Panama. Why? To secure airfields to airland the rest of the division.
HOWEVER, I will note that since 1945, no airborne operations have been
conducted against a nation that had anything resembling a real air defense
capability.
John
[Tomb] I had thought this was the case, but I didn't want to speak up
and appear the idiot. Thanks for confirming that.
Note that your last statement makes many of these landings seem viable by
small airdrop formations on remote colonies or outposts (light ADE).
Canada still has (at least for now, though there is a move to turf them) some
limited parachute assault capability (one company per infantry unit
> --- Tomb <tomb@dreammechanics.com> wrote:
> Note that your last statement makes many of these
Yes, the futuristic equivelant of invading Grenada or Panama. Pick on little
threats before they buy good air defenses. When dealing with people like
Iraqis who have dug up the wherewithal to purchase enough obsolescent SAMs to
pose a cetain threat, the airborne
guys become mere truck-mounted infantry, useful
primarily to secure undefended desert and attack
lightly-defended airbases.
Of course, once your 'airborne' guys become power armored, then they are a lot
more useful in a standup fight against real opponents.
> Canada still has (at least for now, though there is
I wouldn't know. All I know is that you guys have some sort of hangup about
your airborne units and scrapped the last major one (along with your
institutional memory and capability) just because a couple of 'em got out of
control.
If every military unit which had individuals commit crimes, even murders, then
there would be very few units on the planet.