Development of a Low Cost 10,000 lb Capacity Ram-Air Parachute, DRAGONFLY Program

A 3,500 ft, 10,000 lb capacity, low cost cargo Ram-air is being designed and developed by Para-Flite, Inc. for the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center (Natick) under the JPADS ACTD program. The airdrop system has been designed for deployment from 25Kft MSL at speeds of 150 KIAS. Test drops have been conducted with the system in order to finalize the deployment process and generate trajectory data suitable for the development of an autonomous guidance algorithm, of which C.S. Draper Laboratory is the designing authority. This paper presents the design philosophy and outlines the aerodynamic, structural and manufacturing considerations. Being driven by cost reduction, the design focused on using conventional materials and manufacturing techniques while trying to maximize gliding performance. The main canopy uses a cutterless slider reefing method which eliminates a dependency for complicated staged openings. Drop tests indicated that the parafoil was extremely stable in flight and generated a maximum glide ratio of 4:1. This level of glide efficiency matches or exceeds prior performance characteristics for similarly sized systems. Guided tests showed that the parafoil is also reasonably responsive for it size, with maximum steady state turn rates exceeding 9.0 deg/s.