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| Science & Technology |
| Carbon fiber wing for Paratroopers alows 200km glide. |
| 2006-05-30 |
| A new military parachute system which fits wings on soldiers could enable them to travel to 200 kilometres (124 miles) after jumping, Jane's Defence Weekly defence magazine said Friday. The system, which involves the development of new modular carbon-fibre wings, will mean that aircraft can drop parachutists from 30,000 feet (9,150 metres) into an area of operations without flying into a danger zone. Trials of the modular wing are being developed by the German firm Elektroniksystem und Logistik and Draeger. They are due to finish by the end of 2006, with the entire parachute and wings combination expected to be available during 2007. Peter Felstead, editor of Jane's Defence Weekly, said the new system has been in use with the German army since 2003, but the development of the new wing means soldiers can travel much further than the current 48 kilometres. "The new wing will also reduce the impact of wind conditions on the jumper and allow operatives to travel up to 40 kilometres carrying loads of around 100 kilogrammes," Felstead said. "The system is reportedly 100 percent silent and extremely difficult to track by air on ground-based radar systems." Jane's Defence Weekly reported that the next stage of the development will utilise small turbo-jet drives, as used on unmanned aerial vehicles, allowing jumpers to be carried longer distances without jumping from such extreme heights. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #6 http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001506.html HALO/Oxygen/GPS gear for SOF check http://www.bird-man.com/?n=News&id=948 Rockets and Suit Check Sounds like they just upgraded to carbon fiber wings for more control and slow final approach to something within reason of landing without major injury or parachute. And I would imagine this would be reserved for SOF forces for many reasons. Expense, Special Training needed, and of course could you imagine trying to fly hundreds or thousands of these babies in the dark bad weather without a major FUBAR incident. I could easily picture 5-10 man squads gliding in thou. 40 miles would allow to drop in international air space and still glide in deep. |
| Posted by: C-Low 2006-05-31 00:02 |
| #5 Skorzeny... now there was the orignial gutsy inventive operator. Too bad he was working for the wrong team. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-05-30 17:09 |
| #4 Pfffff....zis is not so nu! We had is bauk in der day. It was der early Draeger chute which created zos nasty scars on my face. |
| Posted by: Otto Skorzeny 2006-05-30 16:23 |
| #3 Lunch, you forgot lunch and a beverage. gun, ammo, helmet, boots, extra sox, radio, |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-05-30 16:16 |
| #2 The suborbital man cannon sounds like a better idea. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-05-30 16:15 |
| #1 Course it's going to require each soldat to carry 150 lbs. of O2. Other than that we're set. Oh, and thermal protection, 50 lbs of insulation, other than that we're ready to go. Or and maybe some sort of navigation device, that's a long way to keep formation. Maybe a little GPS to go. Other than that.... |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-30 16:11 |