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Boeing Working on Real-Life Colonial Marines Dropship
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 12:30 AM on June 13, 2008
The US Air Force wants a new cargo aircraft, a pressurised aeroplane capable of carrying 30,000 kilos for 1,500 nautical miles without refueling. They call it the Speed Agile Concept Demonstrator—it's supposed to travel at a minimum Mach .8 at 30,000-feet—but they may as well have called it the UD-4L Dropship, because it looks like the Colonial Marines' Cheyenne in Aliens. Boeing is going to get a mere US$7.5M to work on it to get the technology ready for 2010—which doesn't mean having the aeroplane by then, just the pretty drawings for us to post about. [Defense Tech]
Rockwell Collins has been selected by the US Marines to deliver 3,000 of its ParaNav GPS units for parachutists. Soldiers plummeting towards earth will soon have the advantage of GPS navigation with a HUD that will help improve landing accuracy and allow for target zones to be easily changed on the fly. 
