new spec ops ` winged parachute ` developed

developed by the german dreager corp. , its a totally new and revolutionary design featuring a ridgid carbon fibre wing , far smaller than the previos hang glider / microlight based solutions to traditional parachutes

its claimed preformance is > 2OO km glide , from an altitude of 10 thousand metres . and should be in service by 2007

that should put the heartland of many contries in range of commandos droped from aircraft flying in international airspace

finaly a cool ofshoot of this is it is claimed that it will be very simple to fit an miniturised engine to a rig like this -- further extending range

it wont replace std chutes all together -- but it deffo looks like a nead extra toy for our troops

link

sorry thats the only free acess article i can find -- but there is more on jane`s.com

Update :

More info from today`s Times [UK]

times_update

A “ test pilot “ has already made several demo drops , to prove the feasibility of the unpowered wing

And here is a pretty picture of how it operates :

external image


Reported performance of the powered one will be :

Top speed ; 200kph +

Insertion range : 200km [ from a 11000m drop ]

That is cool

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[edit on 6/6/2006 by Mirthful Me]

niceeeeee, but which military is this new chute being designed for??

i know its a german firm who has developed it, but a british newspaper is reporting on it with no indication which nation it is for.

STEVE :

the germans special forces intend to issue it [ the unpowered version ] to operational units by 2007 /2008 .

and others are queueing up to test it

india , pakistan and USA included

i can just see india and pakistani commandoes trying to dog fight with it above the hindu kush

So the non powered ones are basically like the "Bird Suits" Skydivers use?

pic

You can glide long distances but have to land with a normal parachute. Wouldnt seem hard to design a military version (atleast non-powered) though you would have to deal with some weight issues skydivers dont have to deal with like 90+lbs of extra gear SF people sometime carry.

yeah man, i missed that other link

you forgot britain too though

"Britain is one of several countries watching the trials with a view to equipping its paratroops with the new device".

i wanna go lol, it makes you want to join the parachute regiment




[edit on 6-6-2006 by st3ve_o]

Absolutely not. The Birdsuit´s operation is primarily based on the increased drag slowing down the fall. The forward motion is more or less a byproduct and the lift generated by the flat surfaces is not too high. You cant cover significant distances with them.

Those flying wings however are dependent on the lift they generate. A prominent example is Felix Baumgartner, a stunt skydiver that recently crossed the Channel with rigid wings:

image source: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2003/07/31/felix372.jpg


Due to their construction and principle, the rigid wings can fly about twice as fast as the birdsuits.



[edit on 6/6/2006 by Lonestar24]

And what exactly is that supposed to be a secuel to "Dr. Strange Love" or what.

I personally like the idea a lot. it just goes to show that sci-fi is constanly becoming true and real. If boosted with a little more power these riggid wings can render jet pacs/rocket belts obsolete

The natural evolution of the winged skydiving pack is to fit a big enough wing and powerful enough engine to allow it to take-off on its own thus freeing it up from the operational necessity of the transport aircraft. Then to make ake-off easier I'd fit wheels. And streamline the person by putting them in an enclosed pod. I'd call this new invention "aeroplane".

I’m curious about the delta wing. Since it’s not supersonic, wouldn’t straight wings be more efficient?

Anyone know?

Totally unrealistic, planeman, t can never work. If humans were meant to fly, God would have given them wings, don´t you know that?

Anyway, I just thought about the delivery method. My basic problem is that those alleged 200km of range of these glider wings should only be able under the best of circumstances, meaning that the drop zone doesnt have too high elevation, no malicious winds, good weather etc. ...

So in my book that means that the delivery airplane has to come rather close to enemy held territory (lets say less than 100km of the drop zone) and possibly expose itself to SA defenses. And as we all know C-130 aren´t exactly stealthy, so even if those glider wings arent easily spotted on radar, I think that such a large aircraft flying very slowly in a potentially hostile area would raise some eyebrows unless the enemy Air defense officers arent completely incapable.

Which leads us to a necessity of stealthy insertion from the begin. So, could possibly a B-2 be oufitted to house a chalk of such glider winged SF? Or how about fitting one each into F-22s? I´m not too familiar with how the internal weapon bays are constructed.

Seems like this is similar to HALO and HAHO jumps no?

A problem here is, what do you do with the rig? A parachute can just be bundled up and disposed of, this thing seems like its not disposable.

Forget special ops I'd like to see a full on invasion with 10'000+ of these.

It's a bird, It's a plane, NO
It's a highly trained western power coming to kick your A$$.

It'd be neat, but these things are slow moving and unarmored and not very manuverouable. Anti-aircraft fire'd wipe out any invasion like that. Its the same reason paratroopers aren't really used now like they were in wwii, even though the units exist.

I wonder if some crazy bastard has tried test fitting a hellfire? they only weigh like 100lbs, but then you would also need the guidance/fire controls and electronics so it might not be feasible

It's an intresting little gadget, to say of the least. However I would hardly dare to call it a parachute. It's discription would seem to place it somewhere between a jetpack, and some kind of an ultralight aircraft. This thing has a design range of 125miles, and I've never heard of a range like that with a parachute.

If this thing works, it ceritnally has potential.

Tim

Why, when I read about this, do I keep getting the mental image of the winged monkeys in the 'Wizard of Oz' movie, flying down from the sky and scooping up Dorothy and her friends?

If only... If only...



Flying Monkeys, not just for the Wicked Witch of The West anymore...

Holy crap Warp! Do you have any idea what would happen to the guy wearing the wing when the missle fired? The thrust is so high compared to the combined weight of the wing/man he would be truly screwed!