An American soldier has been found guilty of deliberately destroying three armored Humvees by cutting the straps attaching them to their parachutes before they were dropped out of a plane during an airborne exercise.

A court martial on Wednesday convicted Sergeant John T. Skipper, 29, of three counts of destroying military property and one of lying during the official criminal investigation into the incident in Germany in April 2016.

The armored vehicles, which can cost as much as $220,000 each, were being flown into the Hohenfels military base when they were dropped out the back of C-130 Hercules transport planes before crashing to the ground. Video of the incident went viral last year.

The Humvees, which can cost as much as $220,000 each, were being flown into the Hohenfels military base when they were dropped out the back of C-130 Hercules transport plane

The viral video shows the Hercules aircraft flying overhead as various vehicles and gear are dropped gently down to solid ground.

Skipper, who was in charge of ensuring the parachutes were properly rigged, cut their chords before they left the plane.

The men are soon heard whooping, laughing hysterically and shouting 'Yeeessss' as the first Humvee comes loose and crashes to the ground and breaking apart.

They laugh even louder as the second Humvee plummets to the earth from another plane just moments later. One soldier can hardly contain his laughter and lets off a string of expletives.

The viral video shows the Hercules aircraft flying overhead as the Humvees plummet to the ground one by one

The men are soon heard whooping, laughing hysterically and shouting 'Yeeessss' as the first Humvee comes loose and crashes to the ground and breaking apart

And seconds later, another plunges after its parachute fails, with the men remarking that it appeared to catch fire after the bumpy landing. No one was hurt.

Tactical Air Network said: 'To airdrop a Humvee, the vehicles are loaded onto metal pallets, sometimes with the use of a crane.

'Three G-11B parachutes (with a diameter of 100ft apiece, and a weight of 275 lbs are strapped to the Humvees, while honeycombed pads and pieces of lightweight wood are stacked underneath the vehicles to absorb the shock of a normal landing.

'When in the air, the loadmaster will open the C-130’s rear cargo door when pilots slow down the aircraft to approximately 160mph, releasing a smaller drogue chute attached to the vehicle pallet.

'The drag of the drogue chute yanks the Humvee out of the aircraft and into the sky, its G-11Bs deploying soon afterwards for a presumably comfortable float down to Earth.'

The court martial sentenced Skipper to a reduction in grade and a bad conduct discharge. Pictured: One of the destroyed vehicles

It was during this 'comfortable drop' than things went awry for the three vehicles.

Skipper was assigned to the 91st Cavalry Regiment (Airborne) in Grafenwoehr, Germany, part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team.

He was a scout who had been assigned to assist the brigade’s Italy-based parachute riggers during the exercise.

The court martial sentenced Skipper to a reduction in grade and a bad conduct discharge.

According to the Stars and Stripes military newspaper, Skipper got of lightly and could have been sentenced to 10 years in prison for wilful destruction of government property.

Negligent destruction carries a maximum punishment of a year in prison, a bad-conduct discharge and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.