The Story of the Most Advanced and Safest Troop Parachute in the World, the T-11
Fort Benning - 20 April, 2010
CATEGORY: Product
Airborne Systems, developer and manufacture of the T-11 reveals the facts on the development of the latest tactical assault troop parachute, the T-11. The unusual box-like shape of its canopy will soon be a common sight on the drop-zones of the US Army as the first full rate production shipment took place on the 16th of March 2010.
There are not many examples of when going slower is an improvement. But the students at the US Army Airborne School under the command of the C Company, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the first class to use the new T-11 Advanced Tactical Parachute System found themselves taking longer to reach the ground than their predecessors.
To be precise, they were falling at the rate of 18 feet per second - slower than the 21 feet per second than if they had been using the T-10 parachute, which has been used for combat mass assault airborne operations and training for the past 50 years.
T-11 Parachute
A US Army study has released that the introduction of the T-11 parachute has resulted in a 73% reduction in injuries when compared to the T10 parachute. This has already been demonstrated during 3,000 jumps at Fort Benning by the 75th Ranger Regiment, the first command to receive the T-11 parachute system under the Low Rate Initiation Production (LRIP) fielding.
Over the 50 years since the T-10 entered service, paratroopers have both been getting bigger, and have been carrying more and more equipment, prompting the XVIII Airborne Corps top priority need and user requirement to reduce parachute injuries when used for mass parachute assaults.
This became a design requirement to carry a paratrooper with an all-up weight of 400lb (180kg) safely to the ground, which is about 40lb (18kg) more than the current T-10 parachute system.
Increased weight translates into higher descent speeds, and increases the likelihood of landing injuries, when jumping from C-17 and C-130 aircraft at altitudes as low as 550 feet above sea level at speeds of up to 150 knots. Maximum deployment altitude for the T-11 is 7500 feet (2286m).
The competition/technical evaluation for the most advanced non-steerable parachute system in the world, was carried out at the Yuma Proving Ground in June 2004, when canopies from five manufacturing candidates were used in 87 test drops. The five canopies were down-selected to two for the final phases of the competition. Following an Early Operational Assessment at Fort Bragg, NC, in 2004, Government testing began in 2005 and was conducted through May 2007.
The successful design was from New Jersey-based Airborne Systems, who also received the largest portion of the initial production delivery order from the Research, Development & Engineering Command, Natick Contracting Division, under one of the largest-ever troop parachute programs for the US Armed Forces. Airborne Systems will make slightly less than half of the parachutes to be delivered next year at its Santa Ana, CA, facility, with Aerostar International and BAE Systems making the rest.
The T-11 is being fielded over the next five years to replace the legacy of T-10 parachute systems currently in service with the US Army. The maximum combined contract value is $220 million, with an estimated completion date of October 2014.
Airborne Systems T-11
Airborne Systems was required to sell the T-11’s data rights to the US Government but the company has retained international export rights to the product, which is now being marketed to militaries worldwide. An order for a small volume of T-11s has recently been received from Finland, although the company cannot disclose information about other countries showing interest.
The T11 System comprises three components - the T11 main canopy, the T-11R reserve canopy and the T-11 harness. Both the T-11R and T-11 harness were proven in service with the MC-6 steerable parachute system before entering service with the T-11 itself.
Gary McHugh, a member of the T-11 design team at Airborne Systems, said “There were many challenges associated with designing the T-11. The system had to be compatible with a multitude of military aircraft. It also had to open quickly at low altitude without opening too quick when jumping onto high altitude drop zones. All these challenges were overcome to make the T-11 parachute the most advanced and safest troop parachute system in the world”
The T-11 main canopy is a highly-modified and refined version of the cross/cruciform planform parachute, exploiting two of the most important characteristics of cross parachutes - inherent stability, inherent gentle opening and virtually no oscillation. The T-11, unlike the T-10, also incorporates a slider which controls the opening of the canopy and eliminates the possibility of a canopy inversion or line-over malfunction.
The harness is extremely adjustable and the attachment points are close to the same location as the main riser attachment points, allowing the force of the reserve parachute’s deployment to be transmitted through the long axis of the jumper’s body. Another key positive is that the jumper is also able to maintain a vertical orientation under a reserve canopy, which enables a proper landing attitude.
Like the main canopy, the T-11 Reserve parachute can also carry 400lb, still at a slower rate of descent, compared with the T-10R. One change is that the reserve’s handle has been moved to the middle, rather than the right side, so that jumpers can operate by either hand.
Thanks to the T-11R’s technical innovations, the jumper does not need to take any further action once the reserve has been initiated as the opening sequence automatically adapts itself to both high speed and low speed malfunctions.
