Special Forces BAT WING: Revisited

Good call i could see it being a tool on the shelf. Maybe not used all the time or at all but there if the situation arises.
 
Of course all this talk of carbon fiber, and concerns about weight... pffff...


back in MY day, we didn't worry about carbon fiber- didn't even HAVE it. We used to pull the jackets off of the dead, and stitch our OWN bat-suits.

Then, just because we were hard, we'd strap on a 85lb brick onto our chests.
 
We didn't even jump from anything. We just wore the suits. With a brick. In the chowhall.

People would ask, "What's that on your chest?"

I'd say "That's a goddamn brick!"
 
I managed to find a couple of pics of the stowing capacity.

This answers the question of stowage of gear to be used on mission, but doesn't answer how the wings will be stowed after insertion.
 

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Looks interesting. I got to wonder though about balancing the weight. If your a big guy like myself it probably wouldn't be a prob. However, if your a smaller guy say 150 or so and you got all of your gear (weapons, ammo, comm gear, ruck, 782 gear,chow, water etc) in the ass end how will that effect your flight? Or for that matter if you have heavier gear in your right wing as opposed to your left? Maybe they have a counter weight or something.
 
The big question, at least in my mind, (that I have yet to see explained) is where in tarnation the wings get stowed once the team arrives at their destination.
 
This doesn't seem nearly as bad as having a Stabilized equipment container (SEC) to follow in and then have to cache somewhere.
 
If there were a way to have the wings be articulated, and really really fold them into a much smaller configuration, then they could be cached easier. Then you add to the 'murphy's law' popping in with a more complex platform....

more R&D before this becomes more mainstream... much more...
 
I find the idea of this platform as a method of infiltration quiet amusing. Having been on HALO teams and also being a member of the Golden Knights, this will never be used for an actual mission (apart from maybe an Army unit that is not located in Ft. Bragg). It is hard enough keeping guys halfway proficient and at a level 1 status. If the goal is to get a small fighting element, mostly undetected (as with sensitive radar jumpers can be seen in freefall, just ask the range control a Bragg), into a denied country then HALO/HAHO is a decent option. If it doesn't give you the range then drive or walk. If you need to get one or two individuals into a country then you use a passport, a commercial airline and a little tradecraft to get what you need.

I could spend hours shooting holes in this method of infiltration but I won't. Of course I am just an 18B, GUN GO BANG!!!!! YEAAHHHHHHH!!!!!
 
Attack Wing: Glider Makes Waves With Stealth and Speed.

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video...8b2-cc7d-4c94-9b94-0cda51193130&sMPlaylistID=

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352477,00.html

It weighs only 30 pounds and can be fully weaponized for assault and rescue. It has a 6-foot jet-wing that is steered with handheld rotary controls connected to its rudder. And it can hide more than 100 pounds of combat gear in a built-in compartment.

The Gryphon attack glider, designed to penetrate combat zones at 135 miles per hour, could revolutionize the art of parachuting. It has got to be at the top of James Bond’s Christmas list this year.

A vision straight out of "Batman," the carbon-fiber stealth glider quadruples the speed of similar craft — and there are quite a few special forces soldiers who would like to jump out of a plane at 30,000 feet and give it a whirl.

Its helmet has a heads-up display and provides on-board oxygen for the jump. To land, a soldier separates the wing from his pack and releases his parachute to slow his descent. The wing remains attached to the soldier by a cord and lands before him.

You might wonder who would volunteer to test-pilot a glider traveling at such high speeds. At ISNR London, a security conference, I had the opportunity to meet Erich Jelitko, who not only conceived the ultimate boy toy but also enthusiastically test-pilots the glider.

A former special forces operator and German army paratrooper instructor, Jelitko has made more than 50 jumps with the glider.

He took me through a test flight of a simulation of Paris. He demonstrated the glider’s agility by flying through the legs of the Eiffel Tower — not an easy feat at high speed. Soldiers also can opt to train on other city simulations from New York to London.

Currently, planes and pilots are put at risk because soldiers need to jump close to combat areas. Typical high altitude, high-opening, or HAHO, jumps from around 27,000 feet allow soldiers to travel only about 30 miles after exiting the aircraft.

The Gryphon could increase that range fourfold, creating an attack corridor of nearly 125 miles. Unaffected by headwinds or crosswinds because of its favorable lift-to-drag ratio, the glider would allow elite units to reach targets with increased speed, precision and stealth.

The Gryphon’s built-in oxygen supply system allows soldiers to jump from up to 30,000 feet. And with temperatures at that altitude sometimes reaching minus 64 degrees Fahrenheit, every second counts. Even in upwind conditions, the Gryphon could reduce HAHO jump duration to a third, from an average of 45 minutes to just 15, vastly reducing the risk of exposure to extreme cold.

The Gryphon’s designers, SPELCO GbR, are even planning to affix a relatively cheap and small turbo jet, which is used for unmanned military drones. Harnessing that jet, the glider would allow soldiers to jump lower, maintain altitude and travel farther than is currently possible.

With its stealth technology and high speed, the Gryphon will provide maximum surprise and safer entry into target areas. And with the Gryphon virtually invisible to ground and airborne radar, enemy forces would struggle even to detect it.

The stealth and speed capabilities also could be handy for agile hostage rescue operations and rapid reaction to moving targets. SPELCO is developing an electronic system to automate some of the steering to make it easier to fly, more like an airplane. If it succeeds, the average bungee jumper — and not just elite forces with specialized training — can have a go, too.

And those commercially available Gryphons could mean that friendly neighborhood Batmen might be just around the corner.
 
If it doesn't give you the range then drive or walk.
MFFJM091, you don't seem too impressed with this wing concept, but I think the wing would increase range.

In any case, it may end up being a toy for bungee jumpers and recreational jumpers.

"...and also being a member of the Golden Knights"
One of the coolest jobs in the military ever, gotta say.


...SPELCO is developing an electronic system to automate some of the steering to make it easier to fly, more like an airplane. If it succeeds, the average bungee jumper — and not just elite forces with specialized training — can have a go, too.
Maybe, since they are going to automate the controls with a computer, perhaps maintaining proficiency won't be as big of a challenge as it is with HALO and HAHO.



I did another search on it yesterday, and I still haven't found where the SF Soldier is supposed to put this wing whenever they land at their destination. They're going to have to solve that one sooner or later, unless they plan on treating these like Kleppers or something.
 
I think you'll find this interesting JBS!! (from MP.net)

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Yves Rossy, known as the 'Fusion Man,' poses with his jet-powered single wing after flying over the Alps in Bex, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2008.
 
Looks bad ass. I would love to give it a whirl. Still got to wonder if they happen to have radar and they see a cluster of these thing flying across the sky at a couple hundred miles an hour, what the hell do you do when the send some Migs your way?
 
Its in French but...............AWESOME!!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip2NL4nPOLg"]YouTube - Yves Rossy - Fusion Man Part 1 of 2[/ame]


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfovZqR7qGo&feature=related"]YouTube - Yves Rossy - Fusion Man Part 2 of 2[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpr2w73QZyM&feature=related"]YouTube - Jet Man[/ame]
 
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