Pentagon to Develop Military Powered Paraglider

The Pentagon is constantly looking for new methods to transport troops and increase the mobility of combat units. Existing vehicles do not always meet the requirements of current missions, and therefore alternative solutions are needed. One such solution is considered to be motorized paragliders. The new PAMS program plans to study the capabilities and potential of this type of equipment, as well as create a real example for the troops.

At the level of theory

The US Armed Forces actively use military transport aircraft and helicopters to transport various units. Air transport does not depend on roads, allowing for the rapid transfer of fighters to the mission site.

However, transport aviation — a fairly simple target for modern air defense systems. Therefore, the army needs alternative types of air transport that will allow the transfer of personnel and weapons with less risk.

In some situations, the US military uses paragliders for airdrops, which allow them to cover significant distances in the air. Now it is proposed to develop this idea using modern components and obtain new results.

The Pentagon is launching the PAMS (Personnel Air Mobility System) program to study the potential of ultra-light aircraft for military applications. A request for information on the topic was recently issued, and major work will begin soon.

Prospective program

On August 20, 2024, the Department of the Army, which reports to the Ministry of Defense, published information about the new PAMS program on the government contracting and procurement website. The government contract description contains all the basic information, from the dates of preliminary activities to the main wishes of the customer.

The customer is currently accepting technical proposals from potential program participants. The collection of applications and documents will continue until September 7. After that, the necessary agreements will be signed, and the main stage of work will begin.

Further plans have not yet been disclosed. The Ministry of the Army does not say how much time is planned to be spent on research, project development and testing of the prototype of the equipment. Probably, several years will pass from the beginning of full-scale design to the moment when the paragliders can be accepted into service.

Technical requirements

The main goal of the PAMS program is to create a paraglider with a propulsion system that will be used by personnel. With the help of this device, soldiers will be able to fly along specified routes without the risk of being detected. Defense the adversary.

The general requirements for a prospective PAMS paraglider are quite simple. It will be a traditional system consisting of a textile canopy-wing with a set of lines, a harness and an engine. From an architectural point of view, a military motorized paraglider should not differ from civilian models.

The customer wants a system that weighs no more than 75 pounds (34 kg); the target is 60 pounds (27,25 kg). The minimum load capacity should be 200-300 pounds (91-159 kg). The desired load weight is 150-400 pounds (68-181 kg).

The army requires equipping the motorized paraglider with an electric power plant. Flight speed with an electric motor is not specified. Flight range should be at least 100 km. Desired range is at least 300 km. Flight altitude is at least 3000 meters and up to 6000 meters.

At the first stage of the program, the customer wants to receive the necessary documentation with a description of the project, design characteristics, etc. Various samples of materials and components are also expected for preliminary study.

In the future, the program participants will have to manufacture and transfer prototypes to the army. They will be tested, compared, and the most successful one will be selected for further development. This product will have a chance to reach serial production and get into combat units.

Simple and quiet

The Pentagon's interest in powered paragliders is understandable. These ultralight aircraft have a number of important features that could be useful for infantry, airborne troops, and special forces. And all of these advantages can be implemented without much difficulty.

The main advantages of a motorized paraglider are related to its simplicity. It is relatively easy to manufacture, does not require special storage and operation conditions, etc. In addition, mastering and piloting a paraglider is much easier than in the case of airplanes and helicopters.

Despite its simplicity, the motorized paraglider has quite high flight and technical characteristics. Its parameters allow transporting one or two people over long distances. In addition, the paraglider does not require special sites for takeoff and landing, which is especially important for its military use.

Modern paramotors are powered by internal combustion engines, but the Pentagon wants to equip its aircraft with electric motors. This type of propulsion system should provide additional advantages.

An electric motor for a paraglider can be lighter and more compact than an internal combustion engine with similar characteristics. It also allows for a more convenient arrangement of the propulsion system elements. In addition, an electric motor is much quieter than a gasoline engine in all modes.

Mobility issues

Thus, as a result of the PAMS program, individual units of the US Army may have a new vehicle with a number of important advantages. One can imagine how motorized paragliders will be used in various special forces, airborne forces, etc.

These units often carry out missions behind enemy lines, and delivering them to the mission site can be a separate complex operation. In such conditions, paragliders will be useful, allowing the group to take off at a significant distance from the target and get to it independently. A further development of this idea is the motorized paraglider, which has an increased range of independent flight. In the case of the future PAMS, the advantage of the absence of noise is added.

The prospective PAMS motorized paraglider will be able to carry one pilot with weapons or necessary equipment. With the maximum load required by the customer, it is possible to transport two fighters with equipment at once. This is quite enough to solve the main tasks.

To transport the entire unit, several paragliders will be required, depending on their models and the chosen loading method. They will be able to take off from any suitable site or even parachute from an air platform and then proceed to independent flight.

The US Department of the Army wants to obtain motorized paragliders with a range of at least 100 km. This will be enough to fly to distant targets at tactical depth. In addition, it is possible to create systems with a greater range and corresponding potential. Also, the unit's range will be increased due to the transport that delivers it to the takeoff site.

Park expansion

In a few years, the US Army may have new vehicles for rapid airlift of units. Powered paragliders, which will be developed under the PAMS program, will complement full-fledged aviation and parachutes, filling the gap between them.

It is expected that motorized paragliders, with their important qualities, will have a positive impact on the capabilities of special forces, paratroopers, etc. However, this is only a theory for now, and the results of the recently launched program will only become clear in a few years.

Comments

[evgen1221]

As a result, they will hang, among other things, a 30-kilogram battery on the back plus a motor and will be happy, because the trends are observed and correspond to the agenda.

[cpls22]

Quote: evgen1221

In the end, they will hang, among other things, a 30-kilogram battery on the back, plus a motor...

It's hard to start with a load. In the backpack version, you have to run on your own two feet.
Although they might figure out how to take off in an organized manner from the side of a moving truck.

[evgen1221]

Well, they don’t take off from a standing start, at the very least they need a Hercules in the sky.

[cpls22]

Quote: evgen1221

At the very least, give us Hercules in the sky.

Then this idea makes no sense if a bulky target still has to be put up in the sky.

[Soldatov V.]

The idea is good, it is quite suitable for all types of landing, reconnaissance, saboteurs. At the modern technical level, good results can be achieved.
And call the system "Carlson"

[Dutchman Michel]

And call the system "Carlson"

Carlson had a motor on his back that got its energy from the jam he ate. And he lived on the roof, scaring only linen thieves

[VPK-65]

The flight speed with an electric motor is not specified. The flight range should be at least 100 km. The desired range is not less than 300 km. Flight altitude - not less than 3000 meters and up to 6000 meters.

They want to turn the "jump" tool into a long-range tool long flight WITHOUT a cabin.

At an altitude of 600-800 meters, the air is 2-5 degrees colder than the air at ground level. The temperature decreases by approximately 7 degrees per 1000 meters.

6000 meters x 7 degrees, we get that it will be only 42 degrees colder than on the ground. Speed ​​is not important to them? - yes, while at low speed you will fly 300 km and kick your ass. If you dress warmly, then what should you wear to battle in fur coats, or change into summer clothes after landing?
Further, if it is a small sabotage and reconnaissance group, then the noise of the engines may not be very loud, but if it is a landing force and there are a lot of people, then multiply the noise by the number of landing forces. I think that the roar of 300 engines will be heard from afar. etc. etc.

[Luminman]

Furthermore, if it is a small DRG, then the noise of the engines may not be very strong.

There will be no engine noise at all. I remember once in the mountains I went to take a leak behind a rock and heard a chuckle above my head - I looked up and saw a grinning paraglider flying over my head. No engine noise, just a rustle...

[IVZ]

etc. etc.

This means that appropriate equipment is needed, because once the aircraft cabins were open, and they flew much further and higher, and tactically competent use. These are additional capabilities for transfer and landing, and not a replacement for the entire existing arsenal of PDS.

[VPK-65]

Quote: IVZ

This means that appropriate equipment is needed, because once upon a time, aircraft cockpits were open.

Even if NASA gives them spacesuits, I advise them, following the good old tradition that existed at the dawn of aviation, not to forget to slip a cast-iron frying pan under their asses.
Apparently they forgot how they used to fly airplanes in the sky shooting from a revolver. I can only remind you that if they are spotted and the first crop duster that comes to hand is picked up, then all the light "guns" that they have in their hands (which, by the way, are busy controlling the paraglider) will turn (like those in distress at sea) into whistles to scare away sharks, and the crop duster pilot will be deaf.
P.S. toys like a motorized paraglider are only effective at low altitude (when you can land instantly) and over short distances (see how Hamas recently used them during the attack on Israel, there were "twos" so that the shooter would be busy with the controls).
PPS stupid question - which landing party has a better chance of getting out of the sky alive: those who are dropped by rope from a helicopter at low altitude, or those who are dropped by parachute from an airplane at high altitude? - these have even less chance...

[IVZ]

PPS stupid question - which landing party has a better chance of getting out of the sky alive: those who are dropped by rope from a helicopter at low altitude, or those who are dropped by parachute from an airplane at high altitude? - these have even less chance...

As for the flight altitude. Most likely, it means the possibility of use in mountainous terrain, and not the height above the underlying ground. As for the chances. I would ask you to clarify and expand on the introduction. Is the landing site accessible to a helicopter, the mass of the airborne cargo, the saturation of the landing area with air defense systems, the required flight range of aircraft, etc., etc. It was not for nothing that I discussed competent use from a tactical point of view. A helicopter, an airplane, a paraglider do not replace each other, but only expand the possibilities of landing and transfer in different conditions. That is, a paraglider provides some of its own capabilities, for example, silence and low visibility, favorably differing, in this, from other means of landing. Roughly speaking, it has its own tasks.

[VPK-65]

Quote: IVZ

I would like to ask you to clarify and expand on the introduction. Is the landing site accessible to a helicopter, the mass of the cargo to be dropped, the saturation of the landing area with air defense systems, the required flight range of the aircraft, etc., etc.

For a rope landing from a helicopter, large "sites" are not required (you can even land on the roof of a building). And "input data" is better real, as an example we can take that famous Gostomel landing to evacuate the shitty Medvedchuk. Would our guys have had a chance if an Il-76 and parachutes were used for the landing? What would have happened to this monster and to our guys while they would have descended from the sky under domes, I think, is clear. Further, the "maximum depth of landing behind enemy lines" is clearly not 300 km, but the distance that you can break through to join up with your main units, because you can't carry a lot of ammunition on yourself in any case, and logistics for 300 km behind enemy lines is nonsense. I think that the Americans need this in order to cover some small group of drug dealers on a plantation and nothing more. Well, how paragliders should be used is described in the comments below (like Hamas), i.e. "in pairs", better at a height of only a few dozen meters and at a landing depth from the LBS of no more than 20 km. And once or twice it may work, but the third time counteraction will be developed... so one-time sudden actions, and in no case systemic. And in general, a paraglider is exotic, below in the comments they wrote correctly: "it strongly depends on the weather", and not on the wishes of the generals in the General Staff (they will definitely not take the weather into account).
P.S. I remembered the P-37 type radars, their official performance characteristics are: "permissible wind speed: 25 m/s", I still remember the hysterics at the ZKP when already with gusts of wind of about 17 m/s these "sails" began not only to slow down, but sometimes also... to turn in the other direction, and the final result of the stupid order "try in the wind" was such that the PPK bearing fell apart, they then had to change it for a week. IMHO: delicate capricious equipment, it is not for the General Staff, so we definitely do not need these paragliders (at least in the troops, and for specialists, depending on the adequacy of their commander).

[Viktor Sergeev]

Each one should cost as much as a fighter jet. They don't know how else to steal money.

[tank64rus]

This is a new direction for the development of the Airborne Forces and Special Operations Forces. We hope we don't bury this again in the depths of the Ministry of Defense.

[KVU-NSVD]

will be able to fly along specified routes without the risk of being detected by enemy air defenses.

Why the hell would it be invisible to radar? A textile wing - well, let's say, but an engine and a soldier with weapons, in gear and with cargo, you won't miss the radar. And flying on a paraglider close to the ground, skirting everything and everyone, is unlikely to work. But the idea, although not new, is quite workable. You can also try to make an unmanned version for delivering cargo to a given point or for use as a "pack mule" when landing a unit

[Vladimir-TTT]

As a person who knows about paragliding firsthand - I don’t fly much, but regularly - I’ll say it’s very specific.
Very low flight speeds and very strong dependence on wind.
The flight speed is less than that of the WWI shelves.
This is the "price" for the ability to take off from your feet and land on your feet.
The best time for a motor paraglider is in the morning and evening, when the wind has not yet picked up, or when it has already died down.
But this time is short.
If you have a good night vision device, then probably the whole night is available for flights (IMHO)
By the way, Elon Musk's Dragon lands at night - precisely because of the wind - so that it doesn't get blown away from those waiting at the pick-up point.

[by land]

This is just a replica of the equipment that Hamas militants used to liberate that music festival.

[VPK-65]

Quote: overland

It's just copy of technology, which was used by Hamas militants upon release that music festival.

Were those who were at that festival "freed" from life?
Regarding "copy of equipment" - a fairy tale for children, the series "Gamers" season 1 (episode 7) from the 8th minute for any from links:
Gamers Season 1 (Episode 7)
https://ok.ru/video/87459367424
https://ok.ru/video/44821449379
https://m.vk.com/video-45984105_456241169
https://ctc.ru/projects/serials/geymery/video/1-sezon/7-serija/
P.S. What I'm hinting at: there shouldn't be one paraglider pilot - there should be a "two" so that the second number could use the shooting range. In the case of Hamas using paragliders, this was the case (but the video there was seconds). Well, and the key to such "success": at low altitude and at a short distance, that's one. And two: it was sudden (an isolated incident), if you try to repeat this, the enemy will already have countermeasures ready. Well, and three: these attack aircraft on paragliders are actually suicide bombers and should be completely frozen in the head))

[SovAr238A]

What does a copy of Hamas equipment have to do with it? It seems like in your world paragliders were invented by Hamas...
Our special forces used paragliders during exercises back in 1985.
And what "liberation"?
Did you want to write about the destruction of viewers, youth? October 7?

[2 Level Advisor]

in general, a great idea, especially for small groups or sabotage and reconnaissance groups.. for example, 100 km across the border, at an altitude of up to 500 m, at night, silently.. much better than landing from an airplane on regular parachutes, near the target.. in fact, the direction of development for the Airborne Forces.. the only thing is that the issue of technology remains..

[nordscout]

If you "dig" into the military-historical archives, you can find the recollections of "old soldiers" who, on motor-paragliders, albeit "gasoline-powered", carried out "self-transfer", of themselves, beloved, into the enemy rear... Basically, these "gadgets" were used by sabotage and reconnaissance groups of probable, and not so probable, enemies, including domestic specialists of a "specific" profile... And this was in the decorous and satisfying, in places calm, 70s... That's how it is.... Everything new, even in war, is a well-forgotten old... Let's remember the land and sea fire ships of the Roman Empire and Peter the Great's time, Flocks of pigeons, with small vessels with incendiary liquid tied to their paws, flying to the enemy camp from the Persians... Dear Kirill Ryabov: nothing personal and no irony, just to help your article.....

[Non-fighter]

IMHO, this "Carlson" will be mistaken for a UAV and successfully shot down. Is it flying? It is flying! Is it alien? I think so. Shoot it down, then we'll figure out from the wreckage what and who is flying here.

[Meaning of life]

First you have to find it. It's not that easy at night. And not everyone can see the radar.

[Meaning of life]

Hamas has already done this - it worked brilliantly. Although of course it is only suitable for certain cases.

[SovAr238A]

The idea of ​​a motorized paraglider has been used by special forces since the late 70s and early 80s.

In this case, the use of a motorized paraglider on a new element base: the latest and ultra-compact electric motors and batteries, can really give a new life.

The device itself is positioned as a wearable carrier.
It is not necessary to fly 100-300 km at once, it is not practical. It is very long (it can be 10 hours in the air).
Range 100-300 km, indicates the maximum flight range with fully charged batteries and favorable weather conditions.
Accordingly, you can use the paraglider multiple times, not just once.
A kind of device for "jumping".

And yes, at such a speed and at such an altitude, and in hilly terrain, no radar will pick it up. Neither by Doppler nor by reflection against the background of mountains.

[Aviator_]

All this is great (c), but what are they going to breathe there at altitudes from 3000 to 6000 m? If there is also a paraglider flying nearby with an oxygen tank, then of course...

[Kerensky]

Recently a friend of mine was chasing some Siberian cranes here...