BAGHDAD — The U.S. Marine Corps has deployed a new parachute system
that could guide cargo to a pre-determined location.
Officials said the Sherpa system has enabled the Marines to deliver
supplies by air without landing the aircraft or attracting attention. They
said the parachute could drop one metric of ton of supplies within a stone's
throw of its target.
"The Sherpa is one system of precision-guided airdrop systems," Staff
Sgt. Christine Weber, a Marine assistant air delivery project officer, said.
"There are many systems in the family of precision-guided systems that
utilize the Global Positioning System to fly to a target."
Officials said Sherpa, deployed in Iraq since 2004, has enabled the
rapid delivery of supplies to remote bases in Iraq without the need of
ground transportation or a landing strip. They said the supplies
have been dropped from a KC-130J Hercules air transport.
Sherpa, equipped with a 1,200-square-foot canopy, was introduced into
the Marine Corps in 2001, officials said. They said the programmed parachute
system could guide cargo to a drop zone from up to 25,000 feet in the air
and 25 kilometers away. The cargo was designed to land within 100 meters of
the targeted point of impact.
The main canopy steering lines are connected to the control lines in the
airborne guidance unit, operated by two servo motors, officials said. They
said the motors, guided by GPS, pull the control lines to enable the
parachute to turn.
Officials said Sherpa could also be controlled by operators on the
ground. The operator would emit a beacon that would guide the parachute
system.
Ms. Weber said Sherpa could not carry the same payload as a regular
parachute. Standard parachutes could drop a vehicle the size of a Humvee.
Over the last two years, Sherpa has undergone an upgrade, resulting in
the deployment of the advanced Sherpa 1200 model. The Marine Corps has
awarded a $2 million contract for 20 such systems, most of which have
already been supplied.
Officials said the Marine Corps plans to increase the payload weight of
Sherpa to 4.5 metric tons by 2008. They said the goal was to develop a
family of computer-guided cargo parachutes capable of supporting 21-ton
loads.
"The Sherpa and other GPS-guided systems can prove to be valuable assets
to have in special cases that require precision and the need to keep
aircraft out of the immediate threat level of small-arms fire," Ms. Weber
said. "I don't think that they will completely replace conventional airdrop
due to sheer cost."
