LOW COST AIRDROP DELIVERY SYSTEM

The article describes the design process for a low-cost aerial delivery system (LCADS) that is a one-time use, disposable, airdrop system consisting of cargo parachute and container. The parachute systems is developed for military resupply missions and for humanitarian relief efforts in areas where ground supply and/or recovery of airdrop equipment is difficult or not feasible. LCADS consists primarily of three types of cargo parachutes capable of supporting and delivering in a wide range of weights, from 70kg up to 1000kg. During the product development will be targeted three types of delivery topologies each with its own type of low-cost parachute: 'Low Velocity' delivery where the cargo is slowed down considerably by the parachute down to 5-7m/s for fragile and sensitive equipment using a cross type parachute made of fabric bands; 'High Velocity' delivery where the cargo is only stabilized during descent and only marginally slowed down by the parachute for non-fragile equipment also using a cross type parachute made of fabric bands; 'High Altitude Precision Delivery', where the cargo is driven to a specific target using a self-steering a ram-air parachute. The high velocity and low velocity parachute use the same basic design principles to keep the costs as low as possible. These parachutes are 55% to 80% less expensive than the traditional nylon cargo parachutes due to a much lower cost of material. The parachutes are made from woven polypropylene fabric obtained from recycled source materials. An added benefit for the LCADS, which are made from woven polypropylene fabric, is that these parachutes have shown to have a lower rate of descent than standard nylon cargo parachutes. The result is a higher percentage of loads surviving air drops.