Deployable Rigid Parawings for High-Altitude Aerial Delivery

"The Objective Force Army requires low-cost, accurate aerial logistical supply. Traditional, low altitude methods expose aircraft and crews to dangerous ground fire. Existing high-altitude technologies are too expensive and have limited payload mass andglide ratio performance.Foster-Miller has teamed with Irvin Aerospace to provide an innovative, low-cost, high performance airdrop system, enabling the future Army to safely deliver large payloads over great distances. The innovation combines Irvin's expertise in recoverysystems with Foster-Miller's Integral Folding Hinge (IFH) structures. Use of the IFH will enable the deployment of a high performance Deployable Rigid Parawing (DRoP). The DRoP uses a monolithic rigid frame that stretches a single fabric skin into anairfoil. The rigid frame improves lift and reduces drag by controlling the leading edge and reducing the line count. This high performance airdrop system can be manufactured at lower cost than competing technologies because of the single skin fabricconstruction and use of commercially available reinforced thermoplastic composites.Phase I will focus on the design, construction and flight test of a 500 lb "door bundle" DRoP system. The Phase II program will integrate the required control systems and scale the approach up to a 2,000 lb A-4 pallet. (P-010615) The proposed technology will positively impact US Army airlift capabilities by enabling high-altitude airdrop of