Capewell AGAS Precision Airdrop System Performs Flawlessly at International Military Demonstration
30 January 2004
Novemer 6, 2003, Yuma AZ - Capewell Components Company of South Windsor, Connecticut and Vertigo Inc. of Lake Elsinore, California, completed a highly successful demonstration of their jointly developed precision-guided parachute system - the Affordable Guided Airdrop System, 'AGAS' - before an international audience of military planners. The demonstration took place during the first week of November in the remote Arizona desert at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground.
AGAS was one of over a dozen cargo parachute systems on display at PATCAD, the Army's biennial Precision Airdrop Technology Conference and Demonstration - a showcase for autopilot-controlled parachute systems from around the world, all designed to deliver critical supplies with pinpoint accuracy from aircraft flying well above the threat posed by man-portable anti-aircaft weapons. Capewell's AGAS was demonstrated six time in three days and performed flawlessly.
Designed to deliver military payloads weighing up to 2,200lbs using standard Army cargo parachutes and containers, AGAS had the distinction of being the most accurate, most reliable and least expensive system on display. AGAS incorporates an inexpensive onboard autopilot designed by Vertigo that uses signals from GPS satellites to send commands to payload-mounted actuators. Simple electromechanical actuators adjust the lengths of the parachute's risers in real-time to change the shape of the parachute canopy, allowing AGAS to steer itself to a pre-selected point on the ground. AGAS corrects for wind drift, which can cause an unguided parachute to fly hundreds of meters off-course.
During the Army demonstration, AGAS was dropped a total of six times from an altitude of 10,000ft (3,000m) MSL, from both US Air Force C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster III military cargo aircraft, in front of an audience of military planners from as far away as Australia and Singapore. US Army requirements for delivery systems of this class are that they land within 100m of their target at least 50% of the time. AGAS consistently exceeded this requirement with a stunning six-for-six within 65m of the target - half of the loads landed within 25m, smashing the 100m Army requirement. This was by far the best performance demonstrated by any of the systems on display.
The results of the demonstration were so impressive that several allied forces have already requested quotations for AGAS. The company will make its first production deliveries in July 2004 and will soon phase in system variants for lighter-weight payloads, especially suited to special forces operations.
