For our readers who live to jump out of perfectly good aircraft, you’ll be happy to know that SOF parachutists now have a Free Fall Advanced Ram-Air Parachute System, RA-1, which is built for static line or free fall operations. The U.S. Army’s 3rd SFG will be the first group to field the new canopy.

In addition to being configurable for static or free fall, the RA-1 increases the load capacity to 450 lbs. with an operational envelope of 3,500 MSL to 25,000 MSL.

The RA-1 has been undergoing rigorous testing since 2013 at Fort Bragg, N.C.,  and will replace the aging MC-4 parachute for all services. Testing of the RA-1 was supported by 30 static line qualified paratroopers from C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment at Joint Base-Lewis-McChord, Wash., and 50 military free fall paratroopers from the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th Special Forces Command groups. Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, or ABNSOTD, testers conducted the operational test to validate the system’s effectiveness, suitability and safety, said the projects test plan analyst R. Manke.

“The RA-1 is an individual Soldier’s parachute system consisting of a main parachute, reserve parachute, harness and container,” Manke explained. “It is designed to allow insertion by both Military Free Fall and Double Bag Static Line techniques depending on mission deployment requirements.

“The system also allows for an increase in the jumper’s rigged weight of up to four hundred and fifty pounds,” he continued. “Additionally, the system is designed to deliver jumpers safely from aircraft flying at elevations from thirty-five hundred feet above ground level to twenty-five thousand feet mean sea level with an objective to go to thirty-five thousand [mean sea level] after follow-on testing.”