Two UK Royal Air Force (RAF) airmen developed an application to calculate precisely where in the sky to release parachutists during high altitude drops, regardless of the type of aircraft.
The app – known as Ballistic – fills the need for a faster, more accurate, and user-friendly method to pinpoint drops.
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Military parachuting allows forces to insert equipment, supplies, or personnel into a specific area, sometimes covertly. There are two drop types based on when to open the parachute: either a few seconds after jumping, known as high altitude high opening (HAHO), or after free-falling for a certain period of time, known as high altitude low opening (HALO).
Typically, RAF parachutists and other special forces jump from an altitude between 15,000 and 30,000 feet.
The main parachute unit in the UK Armed Forces is the Parachute Regiment. There are four battalions: one is assigned to the Special Forces Support Group while the other three are part of 16 Air Assault Brigade, the UK’s Global Response Force.
Furthermore, there are various support and specialist units, including the Pathfinder Platoon, the Red Devils Army Parachute Display Team, and the RAF Falcons Display Team, and the No. II Squadron RAF Regiment is parachute trained.
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By GlobalDataParachuting also extends to the insertion of humanitarian aid into conflict zones. In 2024, UK forces claimed to have delivered 110 tonnes of aid from 120 parachutes via A400M Atlas transport aircraft flying from Amman, Jordan, where aid pallets attached to parachutes were collected and loaded by RAF and British Army personnel.
However, the international humanitarian organisation, Islamic Relief, have contended that airdrops are – in their current form at least – “ineffective, dangerous and won’t stop more people from starving to death.”
The organisation argue that when aid is dropped from the air it is impossible to ensure where it falls, so it’s often the strongest and fastest who reach it first. However, it appears that the Ballistic app will help to better meet the deliverer’s intentions by pinpointing the delivery.
Ballistic app
RAF Digital’s Software Factory Appivate stepped in to develop the project, working closely with its creators – Squadron Leader Pete Kennedy and Flight Lieutenant Dan Leedham – and frontline aircrew to iteratively refine and expand the application.
Through a process of spiral development, directly informed by operational users, Ballistic matured into a robust capability used across multiple aircraft types and mission profiles.
Ballistic enables crews to calculate drops precisely. This flexibility is essential for modern airborne operations, which demand both precision and adaptability under varying tactical and environmental conditions.
In June 2025, the Royal New Zealand Air Force signed a two-year contract for Ballistic, integrating the capability into their newly introduced C-130J fleet.
“This partnership marks not just an export win,” the RAF said in a press release, “but a deepening of allied interoperability between the UK and New Zealand.”
