In the HotBlade 2023 exercise, a Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction (SPIE) mission was carried out with the Air Force's Nucleus of Tactical Projection Operations (NOTP), together with a Belgian Shepherd – belonging to the NOTP binomial – and with the helicopter Sikorsky UH-60, from Slovakia.

This technique was developed in order to quickly insert and/or extract a group of soldiers in a certain area where it is not possible for a helicopter to land.

Whether in rough terrain, with obstacles, or in insertions and extractions from the water, the procedure involves lowering a rope in the area where the soldiers are located so that each one, with a harness, can attach himself to a ring installed on the SPIE rope .

Then the helicopter performs a vertical climb, until the rope and the soldiers are clear of obstacles, and continues the flight to a safe area. Due to the complexity of executing this maneuver, the speed, altitude and oscillation of the helicopter must be extremely well monitored.

This was the first time that the NOTP trained this maneuver, increasing the range of capabilities of the military belonging to the Force.