NATO paratroopers descended over Romania as part of exercise Swift Response 2024, the largest Allied airborne operation since the Second World War.
At an airbase near Câmpia Turzii, Romania,
German Armed Forces paratroopers from the Rapid Forces Division led troops from France, Romania, Spain and the United States in an airborne operation that involved between 1,200 and 1,500 soldiers. Fourteen transport aircraft carried them to the drop zone, making this one of NATO’s largest and most complex manoeuvres this year.
An annual US-led exercise, Swift Response helps Allies practise the complex art of multinational airborne operations, ensuring their readiness to respond in the event of a crisis. Swift Response 2024 is part of Steadfast Defender 2024, NATO’s largest collective defence drills in decades featuring around 90,000 troops from all 32 NATO member countries.
Footage includes shots of multinational paratroopers arriving in the drop zone, as well as interviews with German and Romanian officers.
Synopsis
Exercise Swift Response 2024 is the largest Allied airborne operation since the Second World War.
Transcript
---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) LONG SHOT – A GERMAN AIR FORCE A400M TRANSPORT AIRCRAFT DROPS PARATROOPERS ONTO A FIELD IN ROMANIA
(00:16) MULTIPLE SHOTS – FRENCH, GERMAN, ROMANIAN, SPANISH AND US PARATROOPERS DROP FROM SEVERAL AIRCRAFT, INCLUDING US C17s, ROMANIAN CJ27s, A FRENCH C130 AND GERMAN A400Ms
(01:14) SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO – GERMAN PARATROOPERS WALK THROUGH A FIELD WITH PARATROOPERS DROPPING BEHIND THEM
(01:30) LONG SHOT – TWO GERMAN PARATROOPERS CARRY A PARACHUTE BETWEEN THEM AS THEY WALK TOWARDS A STAGING POINT AFTER A DROP
(01:39) SLOW MOTION SHO0T – NO AUDIO - TWO GERMAN PARATROOPERS CARRY A PARACHUTE BETWEEN THEM AS THEY WALK TOWARDS A STAGING POINT AFTER A DROP
(01:52) SLOW MOTION SHOOT – NO AUDIO - A GERMAN PARATROOPER WALKS TOWARDS A STAGING POINT AFTER A DROP
(02:04) SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO – CLOSE UP ON A GERMAN BADGE
(02:08) SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO – CLOSE UP ON A GERMAN PARATROOPER
(02:14) SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO – CLOSE UP ON A GERMAN PARATROOPER
(02:22) SLOW MOTION SHOT – NO AUDIO – CLOSE UP ON A GERMAN PARATROOPER
(02:29) SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH, Brigadier General Daniel Pop – Deputy Chief of Staff of the Romanian Land forces, Romanian Army
‘We try, with each exercise, to prove that we are able to do a lot of things that maybe could be done during a conflict. And for this exercise every time different kind of procedures, techniques, at different scales. Now, nowadays is the moment, the proper moment, to see something like this.’
‘The biggest and the most important message is that the NATO is here, NATO is everywhere that it is needed in order to provide for their people a safe and secure environment.’
(03:00) SOUNDBITE IN ENGLISH, Major General Dirk Faust – Commander of the Rapid Forces Division, German Army
‘Swift Response is an integral part of Steadfast Defender, and NATO demonstrates its ability and capability to quickly react and respond and deploy forces.’
‘Paratroopers, you can bring them very quickly to an area or to a terrain to commence an operation or conduct an operation where you don't need an airfield. You just insert them by parachuting. And this is why, still, paratroopers have high value for NATO. And this is why we yearly conduct the Swift Response exercise.’
‘Once you board the airplane and once you're in the air, there is a little quiet in the air. Every paratrooper, you look around and you see the paratroopers, they are with their thoughts. And then, when the preparation starts for the jump, it gets a little bit more busy, and you can feel, you can feel every paratrooper wants now getting out of the airplane and wants to jump. And nevertheless, there is always a little bit excitement and they are waiting until the light gets green, the horn sound sounds, and the first guy gets out of the door. And all the others follow automatically.’
‘From the private to the general, all have to go through the same door in the aircraft and under the parachute, there is no privilege of rank or anything. All are the same.’
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