Marines: recruit skydiving machines for combat duty.

• Author: Williams, Robert H.
• Position: Tech Talk - Brief Article

The Marine Corps has acquired steerable parachutes that can be deployed from two miles in the air and place their cargo within less than 200 meters of their intended target. Called the Sherpa, the global positioning system-guided parachutes can be dropped day or night and are able to keep aircraft and aircrews out of harm's way.

Army soldiers also operate the Sherpa. Capt. Art Pack, a combat developer assigned to the Army's Combined Arms Support Command in Fort Lee, Va., said with the Sherpa, pilots do not need to see the drop zone. As a matter of fact...