"jet powered wings" Topic

"Fusion man":

link

I saw a longer version of this about a year ago. I believe the U.S. military is looking at this for their SpecOps people now.

Even so – ING HELL!!!! Jet powered wings!

and on an almost unrelated note:

ronpatrickstuff.com

Actually they are very useful for inserting troops into hostile areas where there is the possibility of AA fire – as the paratroop plane can fly near the target drop zone and let the rest of the troop fly themselves in for the op. The wings are supposed to be disposable/cheap and they give paratroops a deployment range of about 100 miles from the flight path. So, for night drops this technology gives paratroops a potential deployment zone into a hostile territory while the actual plane does not even have to penetrate their airspace or alert their ground or air force of an incursion.

Makes for some great pulp gaming plots – at least as far as fun insertion stuff on a tabletop for reinforcements.

Ahem, that was John Parker, the Black Electroid. John Big Booty was a Red Electroid.

I saw this on CNN this morning as well. The Army test bed is just a wing to increase glide under free fall. Biggest problem with all of these is maintaining stability after exit. The risk of not being in proper body position for deployment of your main is high. Also with the wings you run the risk of the depolyment lines getting tangled up and having as we say "A ball of S--t". Currently you can infiltrate farther by doing a stand off HAHO rather then going into a full Delta or aid of flying wing.
VR
James Mattes

this guy is a magnificent jumper-note how he grabs the gear before he flares for the landing. What a pro

No doubt, JATO packs will be developed, which will permit ground launch from a vehicle the size of a Humvee, adding to the increased utility of the equipment.

100 miles is quite a ways for a small flight system like this, and no doubt improvements will be made to increase that significantly.

I imagine the small jet engines probably don't make too much noise, and night insertions will eliminate the visible detection worries. Thermal detection can probably be reduced significantly by careful positioning of the engines on top of the wings and body/fuselage.

This is a pretty cool development, and a huge improvement in the tactical options for special forces, if you ask me.

The delta wing setup (non-powered) allows for >>200 miles glide time. This setup looks very interesting but is very prone to getting out of envelop (they talked about that in one of the news pieces yesterday).

I can see these as just the begining. Just like the first airplane wasn't very useful, over the years follow ons were very useful. I expect the CIA will be investigating putting hellfire hardpoints on it so they can create a MUAV. Yes, that is right, a Manned Unmanned Arial Vehicle!

I can't wait for the sport models to be released, significantly reducing my commute times to work, and making them a heck of a lot more fun!!!

So what is that camouflaged plane in the background?