Airmen and soldiers strengthened their parachute drop skill sets last week in a joint mission known as Exercise Predictable Iron at Pope Field, N.C.

Airmen of the 62nd Airlift Wing participated in a joint exercise with the 82nd Airborne Division, practicing parachute drops of personnel and equipment from two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft manned by crews from the 7th and 8th Airlift Squadrons. Over 1,000 Army paratroopers were involved.

The collaboration of the Air Force and the Army was on display at two drop zones of Pope Field, and the scale of the drop was unprecedented, officials said.

"It is crucial that the Air Force and Army work well together because without each other the mission fails," said Capt. Jared Barkemeyer, aircraft commander for one of the C-17s. "Without the reliable transport the Air Force provides, the Army could not execute their objectives in a timely manner via airdrop. The airdrop insertion at a mass scale is something no other nation in the world can provide."

Barkemeyer called the exercise a total success.

It was also a test of a new Army method for dropping bundles of supplies from planes. The caster-assisted A-series Delivery System, or CAADS, was used to drop "door bundles" of supplies by parachute.

"It's pretty much a door bundle on wheels," said Maj. Brian Plover. "It's a new thing, every jump we push out a CAADS. It holds supplies that are needed immediately, such as water, food or ammo."

During the three-day exercise, 40 tons of equipment, including armored vehicles and re-supply containers, were dropped by parachute, as well as 1,005 paratroopers.

Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Largest US aircraft in history: civil usage or military purposes?
Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 28, 2018
A seven-year-long Stratolaunch project has been designed to launch satellites into outer space yet the airplane could reportedly prove itself useful for the intelligence community. On August, 20 US-based company Stratolaunch published a statement scheduling the first test flight in fall 2018 of the largest plane in terms of wingspan in the history of civil aviation. However, the plane's usage might not be strictly civilian, the journal Popular Mechanics says. The largest aircraft in the worl ... read more