Insertion of a man or team behind enemy territory often carries a great risk of detection. While stealth bombers and fighters exist and can drop big bangy things, a person shows up on radar. I propose a self-contained environment: a small pressurised cabin the size, shape, and stealthiness of a bomb. It would use a parachute to drop all the way down, and only open when the man is safely on the ground. Another advantage is padding, so the parachute can open lower.
-- Voice, Jun 05 2007

HALO parachuting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HALO
Jump high, open low. [Noexit, Jun 06 2007]

But the parachute is outside the capsule - and how stealthy is the shape of a parachute? What makes a shape stealthy? Not too many sharp edges or pointy bits? A parachute doesn't have pointy bits, but it does have a sort of sharp edge. What sort of things might you do with the shape of a parachute without impairing its basic function? Can you coat a parachute in something that makes it less reflective of radar?

Anyhow, I like the idea of insertion //behind enemy territory//; so, for example, you might take off from a carrier in the Strait of Hormuz, overshoot and land in Azerbaijan, *behind* Iranian territory... if Iran were your enemy, hypothetically.

I'm not voting against this, just seeking clarification.
-- pertinax, Jun 05 2007


//stealthiness of a bomb// With the usual cruxiform stabilisers, that is a stealth factor of "not very".
In fact, the best possible moment for detecting a stealth aircraft (or the worst, depending on your relationship to the crew) is when the bomb-bay doors are open.
-- coprocephalous, Jun 05 2007


I don't think bombs are paticularly stealthy. And I really doubt parachutes are at all.
-- Galbinus_Caeli, Jun 05 2007


It's not particularly stealthy but I doubt that anyone does anything about bombs that show up on Radar, so your para could be mistaken for a bomb and ignored. I think the parachute would need to open pretty low though, and I doubt it would have much of a radar signature as they are not solid so the waves will pass through it.
-- marklar, Jun 05 2007


I would bet a digit that parachutes are not significantly visible in radar.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 05 2007


Somewhere in a science mag, deep in the past, I read a small article about a troop-carrying pod designed to be attached to the wing of a Harrier jump jet (in place of an external fuel tank, IIRC). High speed insertion, no runway needed, but not a parachute drop like this idea.
Try as I might, I can't find a mention of it to link to.
-- neutrinos_shadow, Jun 05 2007


[marklar] - if a bomb shows up on radar in the middle of nowhere, in an area devoid of any targets, it might raise some red flags. You'd have to drop them on a building or convoy to avoid notice, heh.

[coprocephalous] - used to be that the interiors of the bomb-bays weren't coated in RAM, so when they opened them, a small signature would show. Now, I think they've solved that problem. Honestly though, I don't know enough about radar to opinionate - I'd just heard that somewhere like the Discovery Channel.
-- CaptainClapper, Jun 05 2007


//I would bet a digit//

I'll see your digit and raise you two ;)
-- pertinax, Jun 06 2007


How is this any more stealthy than a HALO jump? Is it baked by a HALO jump? See link.

edit: I do see this as being baked, or at the least made non-necessary by the HALO jump.
-- Noexit, Jun 06 2007


Would that be the same C-130 with two large, flat-bladed radar choppers on each wing?
-- AbsintheWithoutLeave, Jun 06 2007


There is a system for high-altitude insertion that utilizes a delta wing strapped onto a paratrooper who is outfitted with appropriate gear including oxygen. But I can't remember its name or find a link to it ...
-- nuclear hobo, Jun 06 2007


//Also made unneccesary by terrain-avoidance and terrain-following radar// So you trade off stealth for flying low and shouting (in a gigahertz stylee) in the general direction of the person you're coming to visit?

The C130 connection reminds me of a story I heard from a friend at the Civil Aviation Authority. They got a call from the RAF saying that they would be flying a low-level mission over Devon and Cornwall, but they wouldn't be filing a flight plan because the exercise was secret.
The next morning the station commander got a fax from the CAA of the exact path of the aircraft, plotted from telephoned complaints from members of the public.
-- coprocephalous, Jun 08 2007


Can you still call it a "smart bomb" if its IQ is measured at 71?
-- lurch, Jun 10 2007



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