Holy F*cking Shit! Gryphon Attack Wing! Hell Yeah! With Kick-Ass Video…
Dude! I am in love with something other than a woman for the first time since I laid eyes on my 1979 Camaro Z-28 (RIP).
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.
Yo! Where’s RHG? Cynthia! Assignment! LOL…
One note on the video, it ends at 2 minutes, then there are 4 minutes of blackness, and it comes on with more footage at about 6 minutes…searching for a better vid…
(Fox)
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Wow looks like something out of the original G.I. Joe
very cool
April 24th, 2008 at 4:21 pmGotta love techology. Or should I say weaponology. Very cool.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:26 pmBash!
i would have sent you a video of this a while back but i actually thought it was a joke. the stupid video i saw of it made it seem like it was. very cool now that i know its the real deal
April 24th, 2008 at 4:28 pmI first saw reports on this last year…it might have been at the “Danger Room” blog(I can’t seem to find it now). I still want to see formation flying with it. A whole new meaning for “Air Assault”.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:31 pm“I-I-I-I am-m-m I-I-Iron-n-n Man-n-n-n-n-nnn”
April 24th, 2008 at 4:40 pmHoly HALO Batman!
April 24th, 2008 at 4:43 pmJust something that’s instintually wrong with jumping out of airplanes, don’t think I could do it. Those guy’s have got to have balls as big as Baltimore!
April 24th, 2008 at 4:47 pmMore proof that we are the best country in the history of the world.
The Maker takes care of His own yet again.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:47 pm“my 1979 Camaro Z-28 (RIP).”
Oh my!! Sounds like a good story there!! I’ve been a small block chevy nut for going on 32+ years now!! I’ll bet we could swap some stories Bash!! I’ve never killed a camaro but at least a couple of sweet chevy II’s are no more because of youthful ideas and driving habits!
April 24th, 2008 at 4:50 pmThis must be where I saw it before. Couldn’t tip you to it Bash, I didn’t know ya yet.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:53 pmhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1642509/posts
the inventor was a swiss man. awesome!
April 24th, 2008 at 8:47 pm