AEROSPACE IN ACTION DEFENSEaerospaceamerica.aiaa.org | MARCH 2020 | 9Meet the U.S.
Army’s new
parachute
BY CHRISTINE FISHER | christine@cfi sherwrites.comThe G-16 cargo
parachute loses less
altitude while deploying
than its predecessor did,
so it can drop cargo from
lower altitudes. During
testing at Fort Bragg,
N.C., the load was a 130G
motor grader weighing 16
metric tons.
U.S. ArmyS
ix years of design work and fi eld trials have
brought a successful conclusion to the U.S.
Army’s search for a better way to airdrop
troops and heavy equipment into the fi eld.
For 60 years, the conundrum has been
this: The clusters of G-11 cargo parachutes that ease
vehicles, ammunition and other supplies to the
ground must be dropped from higher altitudes than
the troops riding aboard the same plane or a near-
by one. When troops are aboard, the cargo is pushed
out the back of an aircraft such as a C-130, and then
the pilot circles back at a lower altitude so the troops
can ride to the ground under round steerable T-
personnel parachutes.
Dividing the drops like this can be risky. “For
forced entry capability, you want personnel and
equipment on the ground at the same time, in the
same pass, so you limit your exposure,” says Ben
Rooney, an engineer, who managed the project as
part of the U.S. Army Product Manager Force Sus-
tainment Systems, or PM FSS, an Army program in
Natick, Massachusetts, tasked with providing equip-
ment, systems and technical support for soldiers.
Several years ago, the Army awarded a contract
to Zodiac Parachute and Protection America (now
Safran Parachute & Protection America, the U.S.
offshoot of the French aerospace giant) and Fox
Parachute Services of Belleville, West Virginia, to
design a new kind of chute, now designated the G-16.If the engineers could make each chute in the
cluster infl ate faster, less altitude would be lost and
heavy cargo could be released closer to the ground.
This is done with a smaller parachute in the mouth
of each to force the canopy open.
Soon the Army will be able to make tactical in-
sertions with one plane, in one pass.
In fi eld tests with the G-16 in 2017, the Army
achieved a 25% to 32% decrease in minimum altitude
required for cargo drops. The G-16 can drop loads
up to 10 metric tons (22,000 pounds) with one to
four parachutes from 230 meters above ground
level and loads between 10 and 19 metric tons
(22,001 and 42,000 pounds) with fi ve to eight para-
chutes from 300 meters.
PM FSS is finalizing a sustainment contract,
meaning the fi rst parachutes will be in the hands of
troops in 2021, Rooney says.
The G-16 is the same diameter as the G-11, about
9 kilograms lighter and packs in the same bag. “ I t ’s a
true one-for-one replacement,” Rooney says.
The design offers another benefi t. Because the
canopy is made of square, diamond and elliptical
modules that are hand-tied together, not sewn like
the G-11’s long, triangular gores, it is easier to con-
struct and repair. “The riggers can use their scissors
or knife, and they can cut the ties, pull that module
out, replace just the module and the canopy stays in
service,” Rooney says. ★