Submarine Parachute Rescue Team jumps over Gibraltar

Maritime September 15, 2016

A week long exercise in the skies and waters above and around Gibraltar has successfully completed.

Eleven members of the Submarine Parachute Assistance Group (SPAG) conducted over 20 parachute jumps from the back of an RAF Hercules transport aircraft into the Mediterranean, during the day and at night.

SPAG parachute exercise over Gibraltar

Watch one of the jumps here

The aircraft travelled from RAF Brize Norton to Gibraltar with some of the team, aiming to show the long range insertion abilities of the SPAG. They then teamed up with four new members of the SPAG in the UK Overseas Territory who made their first jumps from 2,000 feet to become fully qualified members of the group.

“Proving our long range capabilities and blooding new team members made this a really successful trip,” said Warrant Officer Coxswain Steve Thorpe, Senior Instructor, Submarine Escape Rescue and Survival (SMERAS).

“We were also able to develop our Army and RAF colleagues’ appreciation of our work by arranging a visit to Astute-class submarine HMS Ambush which was coincidentally in port.”

The SPAG can trace its roots back to the late 1960s when the Royal Navy decided it needed a parachute rescue team – especially in remote areas. Comprising volunteers from across the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, its work is supported by both the RAF and 47 Air Despatch Squadron of the Royal Logistics Corps.

The SPAG is continuously at six hours’ notice to go anywhere in the world if needed, taking inflatable boats, life rafts, hot and cold rations, first aid kit, and communications equipment to any stricken submarine.

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exercise Gibraltar Parachute RAF rescue SPAG submarine UK UK Overseas Territory