Gryphon (parachute system)
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Front and side views of the Gryphon flight suit
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The Gryphon or Greif is a mini-aircraft that is currently being developed and can be used for civil or military purposes, consisting of a small wing made by the German company ESG that is carried on the back like a backpack . It is intended to supplement or replace the technology of high-altitude low-opening parachute jumping , which is used in the military sector , in which parachutists can invade a monitored airspace unnoticed by height and distance from the target. The Gryphon is not a flight suit (wingsuit) in the traditional sense, as the lift comes from a rigid wing that is not integrated into the clothing.
Parachutists can currently leave an aircraft at an altitude of 10 km, glide 40 km to a landing site and carry 100 kg of equipment with them. Paragliders are clearly superior to the Gryphon in these performance data, but the Gryphon flies significantly faster. The extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner demonstrated the possible uses of the flight suit on July 31, 2003 with the previous model SkyRay by crossing the English Channel .
Another goal of the development is to extend the glide distance up to 200 km and thus enable more far-reaching military surprise attacks by parachutists, as they are currently already carried out with slower paragliders, also with the Gryphon.
Web links
- Allison Barrie: Attack Wing: Glider Makes Waves With Stealth and Speed. In: Fox News . July 24, 2006, accessed November 13, 2008 .
- Markus Becker: Futuristic wing - fly like Batman. In: Spiegel Online . July 24, 2006, accessed November 13, 2008 .
- Spiegel Online: Flying object "Gryphon": Military use instead of fun sport. Video, July 20, 2006.
- James Bond-style strap-on jet pack flying wing to extend special forces' reach. June 1, 2006 (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Markus Becker: Futuristic wing - flying like Batman. In: Spiegel Online. July 24, 2006, accessed November 13, 2008 .