Army's Parachutes

[rendezvous 0]

What advantage does the round parachute have over the square for the army to use
the rounds for their static line jumps.

[freeflir29 0]

1.They drop relatively straight down. Big advantage when putting out 2 jumpers per second at 128KIAS exit speed on a limited size DZ.
2. Operation is reliable and simple. Little or no user input is required with a T-10C to arrive "safely" at the ground.
3. The descent rate is approximately 18-22 Ft per sec. Important when jumping a "hot" DZ.
4. The issue of "Wing Loading" is almost non-existent. The T-10 just descends a little faster with more weight under it. Jumpers can weigh anywhere between 140 lbs and 365 lbs exit weight with no detrimental effect on the Parachute system.
5. The S/L system allows for "safe" exits as low as 495Ft. Which means from the time your feet leave the platform until they hit the ground is about 5 seconds! The British have a system that will allow 200 Ft. exits.
6. The damn things are Grunt proof. Almost!
"The cab driver said... he recognized my girly by the back of her head" -Beasty Boys
Clay

[ERICCONNELLY 0]

Also, rounds are much less likely to tangle and collapse in the event of a canopy collision (very likely if you put 50 SL squares out in 20 seconds)

[SkydiveMonkey 0]

I heard someone mention that the army had over 60000 descents made without a mal - compare that to a square.
Don't pull low, unless you are
Alex@SkydiveUPSC.com

[freeflir29 0]

"I heard someone mention that the army had over 60000 descents made without a mal - compare that to a square"
Well...you're really comparing apples and oranges there. Incidents of malfunctions on S/L systems are very low regardless of the canopy inside the bag. As long as the jumper makes a nontumbling exit everything should come out OK. The T-10C and MC-1 are very safe parachutes. Hell, I landed once in fog so thick that I hadn't noticed a HUGE hole in my canopy until I was bagging it up. I didn't notice that the landing was any different. Just pounded in like usual!
"The cab driver said... he recognized my girly by the back of her head" -Beasty Boys
Clay

[spectre230 0]

[skymedic 0]

ah the good ole days where every landing is a crash landing...
Marc
Because I fly, I envy no man on earth

[weid14 0]

there's actually an article about that in Skydive mag this month

[DBTECH 0]

It's a square round!
db

[herv 0]

The biggest reason the Army uses the round is because of load planning. Ideally if you have 22 aircraft disgorging (mass tac) at 800 ft AGL (400ft in combat), you load the birds so that soldiers from the same unit will land in approximatley the same area. In other words each aircraft would only have maybe 8 soldiers from each unit so that when each aircraft passes the same point on the DZ, soldiers from the same unit are exiting in the same spot. This allows the unit to assemble quickly and move off to their specific objective within very few minutes from the first person exiting the aircraft.
The Army also uses the MC1 which has toggles but is still a round. It has a slight forward speed but nothing compared to a ram-air.
Originally the MC1 was to replace the T-10 but a problem arose. During peace-time training missions you jump with an aviators kit-bag. When you hit the ground, you have to shove the parachute in the bag and turn it in at the parachute drop-off point before assembling with your unit. I remember many times having about a 90lb ruck on my back, running a few hundred yards on a DZ that is like beach sand at 0300 in the morning. Pretty damn tiring (but I loved it)! In combat you would just do a hop & pop which means that you leave the canopy where it lays.
Now here comes the problem of steerable parachutes. You exit the aircraft along with 2500 other soldiers and realize that you maybe can steer your parachute closer to the parachute turn in spot (less running). The only thing is, that about 75 of your peers have realized the same thing. So, soon you have 75 paratroopers trying to occupy the same space at the same time. So much for the use steerable canopies. Also, there is a good chance that all that higher level load planning just went to shit. Now soldiers are not landing where thay were supposed to land! Cats are sleeping with dogs! Anarchy is everywhere! AND some S-3 Air is going to get a royal ass chewing.