noun
airborne troops; paratroops
Military term for soldiers trained to be deployed by parachute or air transport.
空挺部隊が敵の背後に降下した。
The airborne troops dropped behind enemy lines.
Compound of 空挺 (kūtei, 'airborne') and 部隊 (butai, 'unit, corps'). 空挺 is a relatively modern coinage from 空 (kū, 'sky') and 挺 (tei, used here in the sense of 'leap' or 'jump').