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Special Forces to use strap-on "Batwings" instead of parachutes
By Matthew Hickley, Daily MailThis is soooooo cool. Elite special forces troops being dropped behind enemy lines on covert missions are to ditch their traditional parachutes in favour of strap-on stealth wings. The lightweight carbon fibre mono-wings will allow them to jump from high altitudes and then glide 120 miles or more before landing - making them almost impossible to spot, as their aircraft can avoid flying anywhere near the target. The technology was demonstrated in spectacular fashion three years ago when Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner - a pioneer of freefall gliding - famously 'flew' across the English Channel, leaping out of an aircraft 30,000ft above Dover and landing safely near Calais 12 minutes later. . . . Now military scientists have realised the massive potential for secret military missions. Resembling a 6ft-wide pair of aircraft wings, the devices should allow a parachutist to glide up to 120miles, carrying 200lb of equipment, the manufacturers claim. "Holy glide-slope, Batman!" "That's a strange religion you adhere to, Boy Wonder, but the First Amendment protects it all the same. Now, quickly, to the Bat-mobile!" Fitted with oxygen supply, stabilisation and navigation aides, troops wearing the wings will jump from a high-altitude transport aircraft which can stay far away from Dada-dada-dada-dada-da! Bat-Man! Posted by: Mike 2006-06-07 |
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