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Thread
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What secrets lurk in the filecards?
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06-08-2013, 01:09 AM
zuludelta
EQ-Viper
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,343
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Loose Cannon
Well I was thinking something current. Like the Yves Rossy Jetman flying wing as a real military application. But I guess if there was such a thing as an experimental military Jetwing, a unit like the Joes would be the ones testing it out. Or they steal on from Cobra and reverse engineer one. Currently I doubt any of the US Spec Ops guys are deploying units with anything of this type, but what do I know.
A few years ago, a European start-up was marketing a composite glider wing/HALO parachute system called the Gryphon to the German military (see attached pic), but I'm fairly certain it never got past the proof-of-concept testing phase. The idea was that an airborne soldier would jump from 30,000+ ft. and using small engines, achieve limited powered flight to get some distance (supposedly up to 200 km) before deploying the chute. An unpowered version of the Gryphon would supposedly allow the parachutist to glide some 50 km.
All sort of problems with this, though:
(1) Limited applications: Is there any situation where a Gryphon would be definitively safer, more practical, and tactically/strategically useful than standard HAHO/HALO insertion? And if there is such a situation, is it common/relevant enough to justify the cost of acquisition, logistics, training, etc.
(2) Ill-defined advantages over existing and cheaper alternatives: A commercial "wingsuit" that can be bought off-the-shelf can allow a jumper to "fly" up to 28 km (the current world record for "wingsuit flying, absolute distance"). Sure, the unpowered version of the Gryphon can theoretically almost double that distance, but the costs (both in terms of financial/logistical and training requirements) are probably out of proportion to whatever benefits it can provide over commercial man-portable gliding solutions.
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