Paras to jump from single A400M for D-Day commemorations due to lack of aircraft

Plans for British paras to jump into Normandy as part of the 80th anniversary D-Day commemorations have had to be scaled back as only one RAF A400M aircraft is being made available.

Hundreds of paratroopers had been expected to jump into Normandy to honour the actions of their predecessors on the night of 5 June 1944.

But the crises in Ukraine and Gaza have left the RAF's transport fleet stretched.

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A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "D-Day 80 will offer a comprehensive programme of tributes from today's Armed Forces to their forebears.

"[This will involve] a significant amount of activity in both France and the UK, involving thousands of personnel, Royal Air Force flypasts and Royal Navy vessels.

"This will include a commemorative jump by UK paratroopers from an A400M aircraft on the 5 June alongside Allied counterparts."

Paratroopers from 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team will be making the jump from the A400M, and the Parachute Regiment's Red Devils parachute display team will also jump into Normandy.

The A400M Atlas has proven its versatility by recently being involved in the dropping of aid in Gaza.

The RAF's previous transport aircraft, the C-130 Hercules, was retired in June last year.

But the MOD was quick to point out how the A400M, being a more modern and capable aircraft, offers many advantages over the C-130J.

This includes a greater range and payload capacity – almost twice that of the C-130J.

The A400M was central to the evacuations from Afghanistan and Sudan, and the MOD said it was "proud to house the biggest tactical transport fleet seen in the UK for the last 50 years".

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC the issue had only been brought to him recently and he wanted "to see that properly covered".

"I've no doubt at all we'll have additional planes there," he said, without explaining how any extra aircraft might be made available.

"It is actually the case that the A400, which is the aircraft we use, are being used in operations at the moment," he added.

"It's one of the reasons why I have argued, and successfully argued, to get £75bn more in cash terms into our Armed Forces, because I think you do need to be doing more of these things."