Red Lions and naval divers join forces for special NDP jump

Free-fall displays culminate in combined salute by both teams at separate venues

- Wong Yang

People around Marina Bay and at the Padang looked skywards, their eyes transfixed by a little speck flying through the air.

It was not a bird, nor was it a plane, but naval diver Lim Chee Seng free-falling from about 1,830m in full operational gear in the early evening of July 5.

First Warrant Officer (IWO) Lim was followed by six other naval divers, who leapt from a H225M medium-lift helicopter in turn, before deploying their parachutes and landing together in the waters of Marina Bay.

Following that splashdown, a team of seven Red Lions leapt out of a C-130 Hercules aircraft from a height of about 3,050m above the Esplanade and glided into their signature ring free-fall formation.

At about 2,135m above ground, they executed a "bomb burst" manoeuvre. This move, which looks like a flower opening up, allows the Singapore Armed Forces' parachutists to distance themselves from one another to deploy their parachutes safely.

The free-fall displays together form the Jump of Unity — a new offering in the pre-parade segment for National Day Parade (NDP) 2025, which was showcased at the second National Education (NE) Show on July 5.