A 30-year defence force paratrooper and sniper has died after colliding with an instructor during a parachute training incident.
Warrant Officer Lachlan Muddle, 50, hit a fellow soldier a few hundred feet above the ground at Jervis Bay Airfield, NSW's south coast, on Monday evening, a senior officer has confirmed.
He sustained fatal injuries during a high-altitude training exercise for the Australian Defence Force's Parachute School.
The two men had already deployed their parachutes when the collision occurred, Special Operations Commander Major General Garth Gould told reporters on Tuesday.
"Both paratroopers were highly skilled, between the two of them they had several thousand jumps to their credit," he said.
The other soldier involved in the collision sustained minor injuries and was first to provide first aid assistance to WO Muddle.
WO Muddle joined the ADF in 1994 and served the majority of his time in the Special Air Service, the senior officer said.
"He was a highly-qualified Special Forces sniper and military free fall parachutist," Maj Gen Gould said.
The highly regarded 50-year-old would be remembered for his sense of humour and deep commitment to serving the nation, Maj Gen Gould said.
The Department of Defence said they would support his family and all members involved in the tragic accident.
"The death of one of our soldiers is a tragedy and deeply felt by the army family and across the broader defence community," the department said in a statement.
All parachuting operations across Australia have been paused while initial investigations into the incident are conducted.
The exercise was part of a six-week advanced free fall training exercise and was conducted in the early evening with participants wearing night-vision goggles, Maj Gen Gould said.
The death is the first in a parachuting accident since Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon, son of former federal defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon, died in March 2024 during a training incident at RAAF Base Richmond, northwest of Sydney.
Cpl Fitzgibbon's death led to an investigation by the Department of Defence and a two-month halt to parachute training activities.
Despite the two deaths, Maj Gen Gould said he was confident in the safety procedures in place for parachute training.
"They are up to scratch and fit for purpose, I've got a high degree of confidence in our training system," he said.
RSL NSW extended its condolences to WO Muddle's family and the wider defence community after the accident.
"Training accidents are a stark reminder of the risks our servicemen and women continue to face in service to the nation, both here at home and abroad," RSL NSW said on Facebook.
The last active service member to die in any incident was in October 2025, when a M113 armoured personnel carrier rolled during a training exercise west of Townsville.
Two other service members were hospitalised with relatively minor injuries after the incident but were released.
Two soldiers were also killed in a truck rollover south of Townsville in August 2021.
The department was charged in September 2023 with breaching federal work health and safety laws over the incident.