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Originally Posted by gunnut
How effective can air dropped light infantry be at this day and age? How has modern weapons and detection gear changed the nature of paratroopers?
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It's the right tool for certain situations.
If the job calls for a lot of light infantry forces a parachute operation is the best way for a rapid build up of combat power. You can get a brigade combat team on the ground in about 30 minutes. Landing the aircraft one at a time and walking off takes much longer.
Grenada was a cluster. The troop buildup took a long time at Point Salinas airstrip. Aircraft were stacked up waiting to land. Panama had problems, but overall it went a lot smoother. Usually just one pass over the dropzone and everybody's out.
Safetywise it's about even. A C-130 can get shot out of the sky dropping parartoopers or blown up on the ground offloading troopers.