Chutes designed for hard-to-reach resupply

[unhappycamper]

Chutes designed for hard-to-reach resupply
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Feb 22, 2009 13:20:39 EST

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The impending shift of Marines from Iraq to Afghanistan is expected to increase the need for more precision airborne deliveries, especially in mountainous regions with few roads to resupply forces spread out across inhospitable terrain — where roadside bombs and the threat of ambushes jeopardize vehicle convoys.

Several companies have been developing parachute systems integrated with GPS technology for precision air delivery, and the Corps has taken notice. High-tech sensors use global positioning satellites to steer these “smart” chutes to a specific target. It works much like a precision-guided bomb, giving air delivery a new feel.

The Army and Air Force have been at this for the last few years, dropping cargo to units in Iraq and Afghanistan using the Joint Precision Air Drop System. In 2006, the Corps launched a pair of GPS-guided parachutes over Iraq using the Sherpa parachute system. The loads landed within 100 yards of the target.

Now, Marine officials are talking with Atair Aerospace, one of the few companies developing these precision delivery systems envisioned to haul water, food, fuel, ammunition and even small vehicles. Based in Brooklyn, N.Y., the company showed off its wares Feb. 4-5 during the Marine West Expo at Camp Pendleton.

Atair has created a family of GPS-guided parachute systems for delivering cargo to places trucks and helicopters can’t safely reach. Since receiving a $3.2 million contract from the Army in 2006 for its Onyx parachute system, Atair has continued to develop lightweight products, and now touts its Onyx Ultra Light, able to haul 200 to 700 pounds of gear, the company says.


Rest of article at: http://marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/02/marine_smartchute_022209w/%2e