THE time when parachutes blossomed above a battlefield, each bringing one of Britain's toughest soldiers into the fray, and terror to the hearts of the enemy, ended effectively with the introduction of the shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. Lumbering transports packed with expensively-trained troops are now vulnerable to destruction by Third World teenage conscripts with an hour's basic instruction. In an era where the armed forces are increasingly being asked to do more with less, the formation of a heli-borne air cavalry brigade makes infinite common and financial sense.

The ability to land men swiftly and in numbers at the crucial juncture of any military operation is the key to success in war. The ability rapidly to switch that strength from one point to another also gives commanders what American strategists term a ''force multiplier''. Protected by Apache gunships, such a brigade is capable of punching far above its paper fighting-weight. Its timely insertion in places such as Bosnia might even spell the difference between conflict and the preferable alternative of negotiation. The Parachute Brigade last jumped into action 42 years ago. It had become an endangered species. Labour's Strategic Defence Review offers it a new and useful future, harnessing its soldiers' legendary aggression for achievable goals.