Man's desire to conquer the unattainable sky led Icarus to the idea of repeating the image created by nature - to build a semblance of bird wings. The creators of the comics, and then the blockbuster series about Batman, a fantastic superhero of the future, also turned to the image of wings. Recently, the idea of a "winged warrior" has found a new embodiment.
Munich-based Special Parachute Equipment and Logistics Consortium GbR has developed and piloted the Gryphon tactical gliding system. Translated from English, this word means either "griffin", which in ancient Eastern mythology was depicted as a fantastic animal with the body of a lion, eagle wings and the head of an eagle or lion, or "vulture" - a bird of prey of the vulture family, which are characterized, among other things, by that are able to soar in the sky for quite a long time, looking for prey.
As you know, traditional parachute systems and methods of landing airborne assault forces have one significant drawback - relatively low secrecy of actions: it is difficult to hide medium and large transport aircraft from the enemy, as well as paratroopers landing almost vertically. However, a number of tasks require just increased secrecy, accuracy and accuracy of the paratroopers' actions - these are the so-called reconnaissance and sabotage operations. In this case, the method of dropping from high and super-high altitudes is used, at which it is practically impossible to detect either the plane itself or the moment of landing of the paratroopers. This method received the designation "High Altitude / High Opening" or abbreviated HAHO, which literally translated from English means "drop from a high altitude and opening a parachute at high altitude", or the designation "High Altitude / Low Opening" (or HALO), that is, "the release from a great height and the deployment of the parachute with a long time delay."
A further improvement of the parachute systems used for this method of landing was the Griffin kit, which can significantly increase the landing accuracy and increase the gliding range to a ratio of almost 4-5: 1 (that is, when dropped from a height of 10 km in the absence of strong wind, the paratrooper in Griffin can cover a distance along the horizon of at least 40 km).
In addition, paratroopers using the Griffin kit have an increased descent rate, and their flight is less susceptible to air currents at different altitudes. Moreover, due to the higher rate of decline, the time period for using oxygen breathing systems (apparatus) and the effect of low temperatures on the body of a serviceman is reduced. And the opening of the parachute already directly over the target and the small wing area of the "Griffin" significantly reduce the effective reflective surface of the paratrooper himself.
It should be especially emphasized that the tests carried out by the developers of this kit make it possible to assert that the paratrooper equipped in the "Griffin" is extremely difficult to detect using radar stations with different operating ranges of air and ground based.
To improve the accuracy of landing and select the optimal planning route, the kit is supplemented with a navigation and stabilization system. This will allow the paratroopers to efficiently solve the assigned tasks in night and in bad weather conditions, as well as to fly in the mode of following the terrain.
In addition, the "Griffin" provides for the optional installation of a small turbojet engine used in foreign unmanned aerial vehicles. In this case, the horizontal flight range of a paratrooper equipped with this kit can already reach at least 100 km, and under the most favorable conditions for the release and meteorological conditions, the coverage area along the front can reach 200 km.
The basic set "Griffin" includes the following special equipment:
- basic structure with a wing, a parachute stowage compartment and a cargo compartment;
- automatic flight control system (performing a predetermined flight task);
- a special helmet brand GH-1 for landing from high altitudes;
- apparatus for breathing at high altitudes OXYJUMP;
- portable radio communication system with bone resonator microphone;
- navigation system with a GPS signal receiver, a helmet-mounted indicator and a portable PDA-computer;
- system of emergency shooting of the glider wing and cargo compartment and pulling out the emergency parachute;
- the main parachute system - the basic version is equipped with a parachute of the TW9 340 type, but at the request of the customer, the Griffin set can also be equipped with a parachute system of a different type, with characteristics similar to the TW9 340 parachute.
A distinctive feature of the "Griffin" is the use of stealth technology during its design. In addition, in special conditions - for example, if it is necessary to place a non-standard cargo in the cargo compartment - the shape of the "glider attachment" can be changed.
The weight of the empty set of the base model is 15 kg, the weight of the additional payload placed in the cargo hold is 50 kg, and the maximum "dropped" (or launch) weight together with the cargo, the paratrooper and the TW9 340 parachute reaches 225 kg. At the same time, the maximum flight time when dropped from a maximum altitude of 10 km does not exceed 15 minutes on average.
The maximum possible flight speed of a paratrooper dressed in the Griffin kit reaches 400 km / h, the cruising speed when gliding is 150 km / h, and the most optimal gliding speed, as recommended by the developers, is about 200 km / h when dropped from a height of 2 km and about 300 km / h at a drop height of 10 km.
The GH-1 special helmet for airborne assault from high altitudes, which is part of the basic model of the Griffin kit, is a standard equipment for HAHO or HALO airborne assaults. The helmet is specially designed for such specific tasks and has a modular design, it can be used with an oxygen breathing mask, equipped with a navigation module with a helmet indicator and night vision goggles. At the request of the customer and the need to use non-standard equipment, the design (shape) of the helmet can be slightly changed. The material of the helmet is Kevlar. The mask is made of high-strength and impact-resistant material. A special heat-insulating neck cover is attached to the helmet. There is a specially designed model for military personnel who constantly wear glasses.
Another important element of the Griffin kit is the oxygen equipment for breathing at high altitudes OXYJUMP (hereinafter referred to as the oxyjamp), which was originally developed by order of the special operations forces and the German airborne forces. The oxyjamp is part of the special kits that the military is equipped with. It is required that the paratrooper is included in the oxygen system 30 minutes before the release and can breathe 100% oxygen for up to 30 minutes.
This system has a modular design principle, due to which its composition can vary depending on the nature of a particular operation. The use of an oxijamp is possible when landing from an altitude of up to 10 km, and oxygen is in cylinders under a pressure of 200 bar.
The structure of a typical model of the "oxijamp" kit includes the following elements:
- standard helmet;
- oxygen breathing mask of various sizes;
- oxygen supply regulator with automatic directional control valve ACOV and a valve for diluting the supplied oxygen;
- the main oxygen cylinder with a capacity of 2 liters with a pressure gauge and a pressure reducer - used for preliminary breathing of the paratrooper (before being thrown out), which avoids the use of the oxygen system of the carrier aircraft;
- "spare" oxygen cylinder with a capacity of 1 liter with a pressure gauge and a pressure reducer - used by the paratrooper for breathing during the flight (descent).
The oxygen consumption regulator provides in a programmed mode "dilution" of oxygen depending on the drop altitude and the paratrooper's flight, and the automatic directional control valve ACOV allows automatic switching from the main oxygen cylinder to the spare cylinder without interrupting the supply of oxygen to the serviceman. The changeover between cylinders occurs when the pressure in the main cylinder falls below 4 bar or when this cylinder is mechanically disconnected. However, if a different primary oxygen cylinder is connected to the system, the ACOV will automatically switch to supply oxygen from it. The fact of switching the oxygen supply from one cylinder to another is indicated by the position of a special flag-indicator located on the ACOV valve. Usually the main oxygen cylinder is forcibly disconnected before the paratrooper is dropped.
The Griffin set is quite compact, its overall characteristics are as follows: wingspan - 1.8 meters, length - 1.5 meters, and height - 0.43 meters. This makes it quite easy to transport and store it, using it when necessary or quickly delivering it to the required departure. So far, however, nothing has been reported about whether any special service or armed forces of the countries of the world have acquired this kit for practical use. There is also no reliable information about the testing of the "Griffin" or taking it for trial operation in the troops, from which it follows that this development was most likely carried out on an initiative basis - with the expectation that potential buyers will appropriately evaluate those unique opportunities that offers "Griffin", and will soon convert this interest into the necessary contracts. In this regard, a quite reasonable question arises: will the developers and manufacturers of this equipment be able to prevent it from falling into the hands of terrorists and criminals, who will receive additional opportunities with its help?
