US Army Selects Airborne Systems for Self Guided Parachutes

, PENNSAUKEN: Airborne Systems, which has combined the world's leading parachute brands specializing in aerial delivery, rescue and survival equipment, and engineering services announced that the DragonFly system has been selected as the 10,000 lb Joint Precision Aerial Delivery System (JPADS) platform for the U.S. Army. 
 
DragonFly is a precision guided parachute delivery system that uses Global Positioning System (GPS) signals to steer up to 10,000 lbs of cargo; dropping supplies to troops in remote or dangerous areas. 
 
After being dropped from high altitude, DragonFly uses GPS and a guidance, navigation and control system to accurately fly itself to a designated location point on the ground. Using a gliding ram-air parachute, DragonFly can land a significant distance from its point of release. This distance keeps the deploying air crew safe and reduces the vulnerability of the ground troops receiving the supplies. 
 
In addition to the selection of DragonFly for the 10K (10,000 lb) platform, the U.S. Army also selected Airborne Systems' FireFly for their 2K (2,000 lb) JPADS platform. Selection of the FireFly marks the first wide fielding of this type of system by any government. 
 
Airborne Systems offers a complete family of JPADS platforms which are capable of delivering a wide range of payloads from 75 lbs to 25,000 lbs. The largest of these platforms, the MegaFly, recently set the world record for the largest ram air canopy ever flown.  
 
Airborne Systems has combined the core technologies of four of the world's leading parachute brands; Irvin Aerospace, GQ Parachutes, Para-Flite and AML (Aircraft Materials, Ltd). Airborne Systems is a world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of best-of-class parachutes for military, personnel, and cargo systems, space and air vehicle recovery systems, and deceleration systems for high-performance aircraft. The company also provides ordnance flare chutes, airbags, and weapons delivery systems. Airborne Systems' North American headquarters is located in Pennsauken, NJ and Airborne Systems Europe is headquartered in Llangeinor, Wales in the U.K.