AHC Carrierborne parachute assault.

It was seriously entertained by the USN. The idea was to carry 40 C-2s on a converted Essex class carrier together with a Battalion Landing Team, with OV-10s for close aor support. The earlier idea for an LPV was better - that called for half a BLT plus helicopters and 30 fighter/attack aircraft, to form the centerpiece of an Indian Ocean force.

The C-2 plus OV-10 idea is awesome. When were they entertaining this idea?
 
The C-2 plus OV-10 idea is awesome. When were they entertaining this idea?
1965, it only gets a throwaway reference in Friedman's US Amphibious Ships. The LPV was from 1962 and seems to have been more serious - it gets a whole paragraph.
 
This Potez 56E operated off of Bearn before WWII

potez56e-i.jpg


Arrestor hook and everything

I think the Grumman F7F-1 was the first high performance twin to take off and land in 1944, but trials were unsuccessful, and strengthening of wings was ordered

Brilliant - and that reminds me I must finish my 'French Navy sinks the Graf Spee' Story
 

Driftless

Donor
It was seriously entertained by the USN. The idea was to carry 40 C-2s on a converted Essex class carrier together with a Battalion Landing Team, with OV-10s for close aor support. The earlier idea for an LPV was better - that called for half a BLT plus helicopters and 30 fighter/attack aircraft, to form the centerpiece of an Indian Ocean force.

The C-2 plus OV-10 idea is awesome. When were they entertaining this idea?

1965, it only gets a throwaway reference in Friedman's US Amphibious Ships. The LPV was from 1962 and seems to have been more serious - it gets a whole paragraph.

Was part of the theory that the OV-10's could operate from either ship or (unimproved) fields on shore?
 
Carrier Airborne Assault

The OV-10 could launch with 4 Recon Marines with minimal equipment. Very interesting insert on the deck with #1 with Knees in the breeze literally, then a vertical pop up to 1250 and you fell out. Again SOF recon insert only. S/F
 
The 187th GIR (Glider Infantry Regiment retrained as parachutists) of the 11th Airborne Division did a platoon sized drops via Piper Cubs on Leyte.
Parachute drops from a Piper Cup? Couldn't they just land the f''ing things? Even if they had to crash them in the prospect? They used the Piper Cup to train assault glider pilots in for xxxx sake....
 
The combat drop from Piper Cubs (one man per plane) was something I remember from the 101st Abn Div museum (some 52 years ago). I think this was done because the C-47s were busy elewhere.

I believe that the two 4-man team drops I was told about from liaison aircraft were flown from an aircraft carrier and went along with a night air raid for cover.
 
Perhaps in an alternate Falklands the SAS initially gets dropped by Gannet CODs while the CBG is still 700 miles from the islands. This would give the SAS a few extra days for recon missions which would be important if the timeframe was short.
 
Going back to the you tube video. I think the first twin the RN landed on board a carrier was a Sea Mosquito landed aboard by Capt Eric Brown, as was the Vampire, Sea Hornet and possibly the Avenger in the video.

It is a good rule of thumb to assume any video of any RN naval prototype aircraft landing on a carrier during the mid 40's to late 60's probably had Winkle Brown at the controls. Lets be honest he flew just about every combat aircraft prototype in the RN, some RAF and a lot of captured German combat aircraft...he still holds the world record for most carrier landings and I think the world record for most types flown.

Rian, they also could have used a C130K with air to air refueling and overload tanks to do the same thing, which is how they brought Col H Jones replacement in after Goose Green. However the SAS or SBS usually would have just borrowed a "cab" from the RN and landed from a sub.
 
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HALO - silent insertion.

I can think of some scenarios where it would make sense, but the assault element would be SOC, not from the 82nd.

Best,

You are correct sir. I was thinking the OP wanted a assault with conventional airborne troops. But I think this kind of thing would be perfect for Force Recon.
 

TFSmith121

Banned
Of course, a C-2 isn't exactly stealthy, so it sort of

You are correct sir. I was thinking the OP wanted a assault with conventional airborne troops. But I think this kind of thing would be perfect for Force Recon.


Of course, a C-2 isn't exactly stealthy, so it sort of limits the possibilities to areas without an integrated ADS...

But still, there are a lot of places where it might be a useful capability.

The V-22 can be rigged for jumpers, of course. Also not very stealthy, but oh well...

Best,
 
I have dropped rubber test dummies from a B-25, but never jumped it. ... tears in my eyes. You could cram a few para-troopers into the bomb-bay or a half-dozen into the waist-gunners' position. However, the waist-gunners' position suffers from the same problem as Whitley: ringing-the-bell!

Douglas AD-1 (especially the wider versions) had a large enough fuselage to haul a few paratroopers, but the side door is too small to carry anything more than pistols and grenades. Stock Grumman Trackers have the same tiny side door.
During the 1950s, USMC Recon types jumped Grumman Traders and jet Skyknights. C-2 Greyhound is also approved for jumping. The C-2's rear ramp is great for dropping rubber boats or LAPESing light vehicles, but you do not need a ramp to drop static-line para-troopers. By the time you cramed 22 para-troopers' rucksacks, rifles and snowshoes into a C-2, they would need to take turns breathing!
Hah!
Hah!

OV-10 Bronco can carry 3 or 4 lightly-armed para-troopers behind the cockpit.

At various times, there were mock-ups of two-man pods hung under Harriers and Apaches for sales campaigns. No army admits to buying those crew pods. When the Brits had to evacuate casualties (in Afghanistan) they sat them on stub wings and wrapped seat-belts around them. Israelis brag about similar lash-ups.

I was skydiving in the Mojave desert (winter 1994) when some US Army Rangers flew down from Fort Lewis, Washington to do the first free-fall jumps from CV-22 Osprey prototypes at Edwards AFB. FF is only relevant for inserting small teams. Far easier to land the team together, than try to collect them after jumping. That is the only advantage of CV-22, as airliners and other military transports have more range and can carry more paratroopers.

Enough about hardware ... To get the maximum number of jumpers out on one pass, you are better to put two streams simultaneously out two or more side doors (both side doors on C-130 or all 4 side doors on IL-76).
Tactically, para-troopers are best limited to recon, sabotage or forward artillery spotters who land a few miles inland a day or three before the main landing party. I doubt if one aircraft carrier could carry enough para-troopers to make a serious dent in any coastal defenses, but a handful of naval gunnery officers could make life miserable for defenders long enough to land the main invasion force by boat or helicopter.
 
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You are correct sir. I was thinking the OP wanted a assault with conventional airborne troops. But I think this kind of thing would be perfect for Force Recon.

Semi-conventional troops at best, a company of Rangers to fight a stand-up battle rather than SAS insertion of a recon patrol. Perhaps the Pebble Island attack could have been inserted with a large-ish parachute drop.
 
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