agonyea
13 April 2008, 10:51
Do We have any Board members who are currently testing the T-11 or the T-11r?
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Army one step closer to new parachute system
by Maj. T.J. Wright and Keith Colliver
PEO Soldier
The Army restarted operational testing of a new personnel parachute system, the Advanced Tactical Parachute System T-11, Feb. 26 at Fort Bragg. Since the last round of testing in 2007, Program Executive Office Soldier has overhauled the T-11 system by replacing the canopy release assembly with an extremely reliable system and by making modifications to improve form, fit, and function.
The T- 11 parachute has undergone extensive developmental testing in preparation for operational testing. Paratroopers and jumpmasters from the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division, under the supervision of the Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, will make over 3,200 test jumps through October to ensure the T-11 is effective and suitable for use by the airborne community. Beginning in the summer of 2009, the Army is planning to replace all T-10 parachutes with T-11 parachutes.
Officials say the T-11 provides a far superior harness, canopy, and reserve parachute to the paratrooper and an enhanced strategic capability to the Army to execute a forced entry when the combat situation requires an immediate response.
The T- 11 better fits the smallest and largest paratrooper and can carry the heavier combat load that has become standard. It offers very little opening shock and oscillation, provides an exceptional canopy that doesn’t steal air from nearby parachutes and significantly reduces a paratrooper’s rate of descent so that Soldiers can safely land and successfully complete their mission. The T- 10 has been in the Army inventory for more than 50 years and since that time, the weight of the Soldier’s combat load has continued to increase. In the 1950s, the total jumper weight — Soldier, parachute system and combat load — averaged 300 pounds. Today’s paratrooper is required to jump with more equipment in order to maintain survivability and lethality on the dynamic battlefield and the T- 10 system was not designed to handle these heavier combat loads. The T- 11 was specifically designed to carry a paratrooper with a total jumper weight of 400 pounds safely to the ground. Sgt. 1st Class Richard Manley, of the U.S. Army Infantry School, jumped with the T-11 during developmental testing. He said, “This is a great chute. There is no opening shock, a slow rate of descent and zero oscillations. I’ll take the T-11 over the T-10 any day.”
A key safety benefit of the T11 is the significantly lower rate of descent. A study by the Belgian army showed there is a significant reduction in parachute landing injuries when lowering a parachute’s rate of descent from 22 feet per second to 18 feet per second. Recent testing with live jumpers and mannequins with a total jump weight of 360 pounds has shown the rate of descent of the T-10 is 22 feet per second while the T-11 is 18 feet per second. The T-11 main canopy has been tested with a payload in excess of 700 pounds and still had a rate of descent of less than 28 feet per second. In addition, the design of the main canopy is such that there is minimal oscillation after canopy inflation and after lowering the combat load. The T-11 achieves the lower rate of descent by having a canopy that is 28 percent larger than the T-10 while weighing only seven pounds more.
The T-11 also has a much reduced opening shock when compared with the T10. Rather than the canopy opening immediately after it comes out of the deployment bag, like the T-10, the T-11 canopy is covered by a canopy sleeve. The static line pulls the deployment bag out of the pack tray, elongates the suspension lines, and exposes the pilot parachute. The pilot parachute pulls the canopy sleeve off the canopy and the canopy inflates. The inflation of the canopy is further controlled by a slider that controls the amount of air entering the bottom of the canopy.
The combined use of the canopy sleeve and slider controls the inflation of the canopy smoothly over the course of six seconds, thus decreasing the opening shock. As a result, the parachutist counts to six seconds, as opposed to four seconds with the T- 10, before performing the canopy check.
In addition to a new main canopy, the old reserve parachute is being replaced by the T-11R reserve parachute. The T-11R has an aero-conical design based on the current British low level parachute reserve canopy. The T11R was tested extensively under various types of main canopy malfunctions and proved to be more reliable and more effective than the current system. It has a lower opening shock and can be deployed using either hand, requiring 15 to 22 pounds of pull force. The rate of descent is about 26 feet per second, a significant improvement over the current reserves, and has less oscillation. More importantly, the T- 11R supports a jump weight of more than 360 pounds.
Under the current fielding plan, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the Rigger School, and the Airborne School will receive the T-11 in 2009. The 82nd Airborne Division will receive the new parachute in 2010 to 2011, and T-10s will be replaced Army-wide during a seven-year period ending in 2015. Once the fielding of the T-11 is complete, the Army will begin rendering the T-10 obsolete and removing it from the Army inventory as a personnel parachute.
This is a historic time for the Army, as we enter an era where paratroopers can be confident that their equipment will work, carry all their kit and deliver them safely to the ground, to successfully execute the follow- on mission. The T-11 will provide our Army a new capability to execute a forced entry anywhere that immediate global response is necessary.
( Editor’s note: Maj. T. J.
Wright, the assistant product manager for Personnel Airdrop Systems, and Keith Colliver are both master-rated parachutists assigned to PEO Soldier.)
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Army one step closer to new parachute system
by Maj. T.J. Wright and Keith Colliver
PEO Soldier
The Army restarted operational testing of a new personnel parachute system, the Advanced Tactical Parachute System T-11, Feb. 26 at Fort Bragg. Since the last round of testing in 2007, Program Executive Office Soldier has overhauled the T-11 system by replacing the canopy release assembly with an extremely reliable system and by making modifications to improve form, fit, and function.
The T- 11 parachute has undergone extensive developmental testing in preparation for operational testing. Paratroopers and jumpmasters from the XVIII Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne Division, under the supervision of the Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, will make over 3,200 test jumps through October to ensure the T-11 is effective and suitable for use by the airborne community. Beginning in the summer of 2009, the Army is planning to replace all T-10 parachutes with T-11 parachutes.
Officials say the T-11 provides a far superior harness, canopy, and reserve parachute to the paratrooper and an enhanced strategic capability to the Army to execute a forced entry when the combat situation requires an immediate response.
The T- 11 better fits the smallest and largest paratrooper and can carry the heavier combat load that has become standard. It offers very little opening shock and oscillation, provides an exceptional canopy that doesn’t steal air from nearby parachutes and significantly reduces a paratrooper’s rate of descent so that Soldiers can safely land and successfully complete their mission. The T- 10 has been in the Army inventory for more than 50 years and since that time, the weight of the Soldier’s combat load has continued to increase. In the 1950s, the total jumper weight — Soldier, parachute system and combat load — averaged 300 pounds. Today’s paratrooper is required to jump with more equipment in order to maintain survivability and lethality on the dynamic battlefield and the T- 10 system was not designed to handle these heavier combat loads. The T- 11 was specifically designed to carry a paratrooper with a total jumper weight of 400 pounds safely to the ground. Sgt. 1st Class Richard Manley, of the U.S. Army Infantry School, jumped with the T-11 during developmental testing. He said, “This is a great chute. There is no opening shock, a slow rate of descent and zero oscillations. I’ll take the T-11 over the T-10 any day.”
A key safety benefit of the T11 is the significantly lower rate of descent. A study by the Belgian army showed there is a significant reduction in parachute landing injuries when lowering a parachute’s rate of descent from 22 feet per second to 18 feet per second. Recent testing with live jumpers and mannequins with a total jump weight of 360 pounds has shown the rate of descent of the T-10 is 22 feet per second while the T-11 is 18 feet per second. The T-11 main canopy has been tested with a payload in excess of 700 pounds and still had a rate of descent of less than 28 feet per second. In addition, the design of the main canopy is such that there is minimal oscillation after canopy inflation and after lowering the combat load. The T-11 achieves the lower rate of descent by having a canopy that is 28 percent larger than the T-10 while weighing only seven pounds more.
The T-11 also has a much reduced opening shock when compared with the T10. Rather than the canopy opening immediately after it comes out of the deployment bag, like the T-10, the T-11 canopy is covered by a canopy sleeve. The static line pulls the deployment bag out of the pack tray, elongates the suspension lines, and exposes the pilot parachute. The pilot parachute pulls the canopy sleeve off the canopy and the canopy inflates. The inflation of the canopy is further controlled by a slider that controls the amount of air entering the bottom of the canopy.
The combined use of the canopy sleeve and slider controls the inflation of the canopy smoothly over the course of six seconds, thus decreasing the opening shock. As a result, the parachutist counts to six seconds, as opposed to four seconds with the T- 10, before performing the canopy check.
In addition to a new main canopy, the old reserve parachute is being replaced by the T-11R reserve parachute. The T-11R has an aero-conical design based on the current British low level parachute reserve canopy. The T11R was tested extensively under various types of main canopy malfunctions and proved to be more reliable and more effective than the current system. It has a lower opening shock and can be deployed using either hand, requiring 15 to 22 pounds of pull force. The rate of descent is about 26 feet per second, a significant improvement over the current reserves, and has less oscillation. More importantly, the T- 11R supports a jump weight of more than 360 pounds.
Under the current fielding plan, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the Rigger School, and the Airborne School will receive the T-11 in 2009. The 82nd Airborne Division will receive the new parachute in 2010 to 2011, and T-10s will be replaced Army-wide during a seven-year period ending in 2015. Once the fielding of the T-11 is complete, the Army will begin rendering the T-10 obsolete and removing it from the Army inventory as a personnel parachute.
This is a historic time for the Army, as we enter an era where paratroopers can be confident that their equipment will work, carry all their kit and deliver them safely to the ground, to successfully execute the follow- on mission. The T-11 will provide our Army a new capability to execute a forced entry anywhere that immediate global response is necessary.
( Editor’s note: Maj. T. J.
Wright, the assistant product manager for Personnel Airdrop Systems, and Keith Colliver are both master-rated parachutists assigned to PEO Soldier.)