Video: Skydivers intercept gliders midair. The low cost fighter jet solution for air forces in financial crisis?

The following video shows what (theoretically) could be achieved by future paratroopers equipped with proper wingsuits.

Five wingsuit skydivers joined up with and maintained formation with two gliders over Austria, in the last Red Bull sponsored adventure.

The team literally intercepted at roughly 12,000 feet two aerobatic LET L-13 Blanik gliders (with the leader flying inverted).

Although all the members of the team had to maintain a predetermined airspeed, and descent rates, to prevent any mid-air collision, the experiment could be an example of how some air forces, struggling to keep an airworthy fleet of fighter jets in QRA (Quick Reaction Alert).

I’m obviously joking but imagine jetpacks (like the one used by “Jetman” Yves Rossy) to give skydivers enough speed to pursuit and intercept fast movers, and you’ll have your low cost fighter jet solution to face the current financial crisis…

About David Cenciotti
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.