Higher Up and Further Out
THE ART, TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNIQUE OF JUMPING FROM A PERFECTLY GOOD AIRCRAFT.
The C-130 Hercules is the prime transport for paradropping troops and equipment into hostile areas. Although, as the old Air Force joke goes, “Why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft?” Actually, the concept of parachuting has quite a long history. According to a 1985 report by Jan Meyer on “Deployable Recovery Systems”, the first known written account of a parachute concept is found in da Vinci’s notebooks from 1495. The sketch he drew consisted of a cloth material pulled tightly over a rigid pyramidal structure. Although da Vinci never made the device, he is given credit for the concept of lowering man to the earth safely using a maximum drag decelerator.
However, it wasn’t until World War II that the effectiveness of airborne operations was operationally demonstrated.
Since then, the U.S. military, in conjunction with various private companies, have continuously improved and expanded the use of parachutes, including those best suited for high altitude low opening (HALO) jumps, and more recently, for high altitude high opening (HAHO) jumps.
Retired Army Major Joe Andrzewski recalls making his first HALO jump at Fort Bragg, N.C., back in 1962. Andrzewski, who spent most of his career in Special Forces, was the commander of the military free-fall school at Fort Bragg from 1983 to 1986. “HALO jumping basically entailed flying to 12 or 13,000 feet, free-falling to 2,000 feet, opening your canopy and riding to land in approximately 30 seconds or so,” explained Andrzewski.
HAHO jumping, where the person can open high, glide to the target and be relatively undetectable, has become much more recognized as an infiltration tool in the last five or six years, according to Andrzewski. “HAHO has become another arrow in the quiver for special ops.”
HAHO jumping can be used to great advantage tactically in a number of ways. “For example, tandem HAHO jumping allows you to take valuable experts into an operational area, say a nuclear expert or a surgeon, who have no expertise in parachute jumping,” said Andrzewski. He added, “HAHO tandem jumping has been working very well in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
“We’re seeing the benefits from new materials, new construction techniques and new designs,” said Aaron Mebust, vice-president of sales for Airborne Systems (formerly known as Para-Flite Inc.) with headquarters in Pennsauken, N.J.
The primary parachute systems used by the U.S. military are the MC-4 and the MC-5, both designed by Airborne Systems. The MC-4 is the parachute used at Detachment 1, 342nd Training Squadron, the Pararescue and Combat Rescue Officer School at Kirtland AFB, N.M., along with some standard gear. “We put on an automatic activation device (AAD), which will open the parachute at a preset altitude if it senses that the parachute didn’t deploy at a specific altitude,” said Captain Mark Vanweezendonk, commander of the detachment. “All jumpers wear a helmet, protective eyewear, gloves, altimeter, sturdy boots, and hearing protection for every jump,” said Vanweezendonk.
The maximum carrying weight of these parachutes is approximately 350 pounds, according to Mebust. But, if the military jumper weighs around 220 pounds, and is carrying a 50-pound parachute, system, ten pounds of oxygen and equipment such as a rucksack and weapons, 360 pounds is pretty limited.
Airborne Systems has developed vastly improved parachute systems such as the Intruder. This system is intended to be used for both HALO and HAHO missions and has been specifically designed for heavily loaded parachutists jumping into rough, unfamiliar drop zones at night.
The Intruder can carry more weight—up to 450 pounds— and with a glide ratio of 4:1 that allows the jumper to fly further. The 4:1 glide ratio indicates that that a jumper can glide approximately four feet horizontally for every one foot the canopy descends. Glide ratios vary depending on the chute size and shape, and the weight that the chute is carrying. Glide ratios for conventional canopies average 3:1 or less. The higher the glide ratio the farther the canopy can fly and the greater the operational capability.
Canopy control is also very important for a high performance parachute. When landing a ram air canopy, the jumper must flare the canopy by pulling the control lines to decrease horizontal and vertical speeds. This allows the jumper to land safely. However, if the flare is attempted too high the canopy loses lift and stalls. The result is a sudden and dramatic increase in vertical descent, which could cause injury. In small unit drops, which are how most special forces teams are inserted, if only one warfighter gets hurt landing, it can be very difficult to accomplish the mission.
Mebust explains how the Airborne Systems has greatly increased the safety of these clandestine infiltrations with the Intruder canopy. “The Intruder has a new, patented reflexed airfoil section. The trailing edge of the airfoil section is curved slightly upwards as compared to conventional airfoil sections, which continue to taper downwards. This allows for much greater control and more lift at low speeds. It is possible to fully brake the parachute and have it descend vertically while still remaining well within the performance envelope and far from the stall point. Under the canopy at full brakes, the jumper can descend straight down under a stable canopy at 8- feet-per-second. That’s a significant advantage when compared to a standard troop parachute which descends at up to 18-feetper- second.”
Airborne Systems also manufactures the OXCON (oxygen console) and PHAOS (parachutist high altitude oxygen system), the only oxygen system certified by the U.S. government for high altitude parachute operations. The OXCON is a portable unit that provides a two-hour supply of oxygen for two, six or eight personnel, depending on the configuration needed.
PHAOS consists of a mask mounted diluter demand regulator and oxygen bottle. “The mask has a balloon-like aneroid,” said Mebust. At increased elevation the balloon expands, so at the top of the jump the jumper is getting 100 percent oxygen. “As the jumper descends, the balloon gradually decreases in size and opens a valve which allows the entry of ambient air into the breathing mix—so the jumper isn’t breathing pure oxygen when it is not required,” Mebust explained. “Most parachutist oxygen systems do not compensate for altitude in the same manner. Oxygen is not wasted—it’s a very efficient system.”
With the longer glide ratios, the jumper is in the air longer, so having an efficient oxygen system is a definite asset. “We have the most efficient oxygen system out there thanks to the dilution schedule and the demand regulator,” said Mebust.
Airborne Systems has also developed the parachute insertion system (PARIS), which has a 6:1 glide ratio, making it the highest gliding parachute in the world, according to Mebust.
Ram air parachutes are made up of cells—ribbed segments with a topskin and a bottom skin. “They’re built the same way you build airplanes,” explained Mebust. The MC-4 and the MC-5 have seven cells, the Intruder has nine cells, but the PARIS has 17 cells. “It offers a combination of paragliding and parachute technology,” said Mebust. The biggest user of PARIS is the U.S. Marine Corps. Mebust said “The Marines often have to jump from helicopters, which cannot fly as high as fixed wing aircraft. PARIS allows them to fly farther distances even when they jump from lower elevations.”
Airborne Systems has also created a family of cargo delivery systems that further expand the capability of military units. The MicroFly is a GPS-guided cargo delivery system that flies alongside an infiltrating element. The only input required to make the system fully operational is the location of the landing point. Mebust said, “Having a low-cost, easy-to-use cargo delivery system is a tremendous advantage to most units. The MicroFly can accompany an infiltrating unit or resupply a unit in the field without the need for very highly skilled jumpers using specialty equipment.”
MicroFly can carry up to 500 pounds of cargo and is the smallest of four joint precision aerial delivery systems platforms made by Airborne Systems.
Complete Parachute Solutions (CPS) is another company that is a leader in the field of military parachute gear. CPS is a consortium created by three Florida-based parachute equipment manufacturers, Performance Designs and United Parachute Technologies of DeLand and Sun Path Products of Zephyrhills. “All of the parachute systems offered by CPS are HALO/HAHO capable,” said T.K. Donle, president, Para-Logistics Consulting, and formerly director of marketing for CPS.
“In fact, the SOV3-TS (tandem sigma) produced by United Parachute Technologies is the only military tandem system approved for special operation forces use in the U.S.,” said Donle. The system can support two jumpers outfitted with full combat equipment; or it can be used in the “tandem bundle” mode where one operator jumps with a tethered equipment cylinder weighing upwards of 450 pounds, according to Donle. “The TS-System can handle an all-up weight of 650 pounds when used in conjunction with Performance Designs’ TP-400 main canopy and the VR-421 or HR-400 reserve,” said Donle.
According to Donle, one of the main reasons the military chooses CPS products is because of the number of available options the warfighter can choose to tailor parachute systems to their exact needs. For example, deployment options include a manual ripcord deploying a spring-loaded pilot chute, BOC hand-deployed pilot chute, a static-line dual-bag, manual drogue deployment or staticline drogue deployment
Features designed for the warfighter include oxygen pouches to hold various size bottles, utility pouches to hold radios, firstaid, signal kits or other items, seat-sling (allows the jumper to transition into a seated position for a more comfortable canopy flight on HAHO jumps where the jumper may be under canopy longer than 40 minutes), cargo attachment points with special hardware designed to hold different types of rucksacks and weapon cases, B-12 or quick ejector leg strap hardware for fast equipment hookup and removal, HAHO main toggle extensions so the jumper can keep his hands in a low position to maintain normal blood flow during extremely cold HAHO off-set jumps where temperatures routinely hover at -60 F, glow tube or chem-lite pockets for night training jumps so the operators are more visible to each other while in freefall and under canopy, and high-speed reserve deployment bags.
Numerous canopy models and sizes depending on the exit weight requirements. To meet the needs of the military, “The primary problems to overcome are the excessive weight requirements and the extreme deployment altitudes. These two factors will always stress a parachute system to its fullest, “said Donle.
According to Donle, 24,999 feet is the maximum exit altitude allowed by the U.S. military for training jumps. But there are many foreign countries that require parachute systems that are certified to over 30,000 feet. “CPS has a good working relationship with the Norwegian and Swedish militaries who allow us to test our equipment up to 35,000 feet on a fairly regular basis,” said Donle. “This level of research and development testing has allowed CPS to push their systems to limits not normally available to other companies.”
Of course, safety is always a primary consideration in any military mission. That explains why Santa Anna-based FXC Corporation has supplied over 80,000 FXC Model 12000 automatic parachute ripcord release emergency safety devices to armed forces all over the world for training, according to Rick Velazquez, director of marketing for FXC.
The Model 12000’s function is to automatically withdraw the parachute ripcord pins in the event the parachutist reaches the point of the unit’s preset altitude, and for whatever reason, the parachutist’s rate-of-descent is exceeding 65 feet per second. Under normal conditions the device would not need to function.
The Model 12000 is completely mechanical in action so it’s not dependent upon batteries, squibs or pyrotechnic devices. The device can be used both on the main and/ or reserve of a tandem parachute system as well as a chest-mounted reserve parachute.
FXC further enhanced the Model 12000 and developed the FXC Military Model 12000-25. “It’s the only mechanical automatic parachute ripcord release designed exclusively for HAHO/HALO missions for deployment altitudes from 25,000 to 2,000 feet above sea level,” said Velazquez. “We had to engineer the increased range of release altitudes up to 25,000 feet that could be preset by the parachutist and allow for an activation rate-of-descent of up to 100 feet per second.”
The military can also do HAHO cargo drops thanks to systems developed by companies such as Atair Aerospace. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based company has the Onyx System, a patented two-parachute (hybrid) system that uses a high-speed elliptical parafoil for autonomous guidance, and a round recovery parachute for a reliably soft landing, according to company literature.
Onyx systems are designed for deployment at altitudes up to 35,000 feet and at speeds of up to 150 knots indicated airspeed, and to autonomously glide over 44 kilometers.
“This airdrop method can prevent aircrews from being exposed to man-portable air defense systems and rocketpropelled grenades,” said Dan Preston, Atair CEO. In addition, multiple units can be dropped in the same space. “They have codes that enable them to fly in flocks,” said Preston.
“We also have a system, the Onyx ultra light, that accommodates any HAHO parachute in the Marine inventory,” said Preston.
The autonomous rigs pack identically to the parachute rig. “That way it’s user-friendly—we’re not trying to change their protocol,” said Preston. “And our systems work at the full weight range of all parachutes.”
Atair also has an eye on the future. The company is pioneering a new approach of attaching heavy cargo to a specially designed roll cage, not to the parachutist. Both frame and parachutist have main and reserve parachutes. This technology makes HAHO jumps with cargo inherently safer and increases weight carrying capabilities to 2,200 pounds, according to the company.
Atair is also working on a powered HAHO pod. The addition of a small 30 hp engine with propeller to the HAHO pod adds additional strategic capabilities. The engine provides propulsion for extended and ascending flight. The system can take off again once landed, being airborne in 50-150 feet; a paved runway is not required.
And the future is now at Orlando, Fla.-based Strong Enterprises with their military tandem tethered bundle unit (MTTB), according to sales manager John Makoski. With this unit, one jumper can deliver up to 450 pounds. The MTTB canopy has a tethered harness connected to the tandem harness. “Barrels are often used to hold munitions, rations and other needed equipment,” said Makoski. “So, for example, the barrel would be attached to the jumper, the canopy is attached to the barrel and the cargo harness secures the payload.” The payload can range from 150 to 450 pounds. The load can be landed by the jumper or opened and released by static line. “The load can actually be stabilized and released while dropping,” said Makoski.
Many factors had to be considered when the MTTB was developed. Weight limitations, stability and wear points were just a few of those considerations, according to Makoski. “We added a swivel to keep loads from getting twisted up,” said Makoski. “And we know what the wear points are and have reinforced them.”
Strong also provides training for most of the parachutes they sell.
Andrzejewski, the former commander of the military freefall school thinks that the military is “On the cusp”, as far as HAHO parachute development.
“Navigational aids are the next gate to pass through,” said Andrzejewski. “Hands-off navigation is needed—where all the jumper has to do is steer the canopy.”
As it is, with new materials and new designs leading to increasingly sophisticated parachutes—it really does seem like the sky is the limit. ♦