 Richard Glasson, chief engineer at Control Products Inc. in East Hanover, N.J., with his invention, a prototype net mesh parachute to be deployed by rockets as protection for helicopters from enemy fire. (Photo by Patti Sapone) |
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Posted on 06/11/2007 9:43:06 AM PDT by Incorrigible
Richard Glasson, chief engineer at Control Products Inc. in East Hanover, N.J., with his invention, a prototype net mesh parachute to be deployed by rockets as protection for helicopters from enemy fire. (Photo by Patti Sapone) |
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[Morris County, NJ ] -- Richard Glasson spends most days hunkered in an office cubicle, where he designs computer sensors for bulldozers and backhoes. But he's proudest of an invention he dreamed up in the shower.
His patent-pending "rocket-propelled barrier defense system'' is a simple idea with a serious goal: snagging rocket-fired grenades in midair before they blow up U.S. combat helicopters over Iraq and Afghanistan.
Glasson loved model rockets as a boy. He envisions similar rockets whizzing from a helicopter the instant an incoming grenade is detected.
These rockets won't aim to hit the grenade — "hitting a bullet with a bullet'' is really hard. Instead, they will tow parachutes of braided steel or Kevlar, creating a mesh barrier to block or detonate the explosive before it reaches the helicopter.
"This is kind of like Spider-Man. He shoots out a net, too,'' says Glasson, 48, chief engineer for Control Products Inc. in East Hanover, N.J.
It sounds almost too simple at first — yet that's precisely why Popular Science magazine is citing the idea among the year's top inventions. The concept — there is no working prototype yet — is easy to grasp, and could be used with existing electronics and flare launching tubes on military helicopters. Glasson says defense contractors and the Navy are showing glimmers of interest.
For security reasons, the Pentagon won't release statistics on how enemies shoot down helicopters. Some reports blamed a rocket-propelled grenade for last week's downing of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan. Seven soldiers died.
Enemy fire is responsible for bringing down more than half of the 61 U.S. military helicopters that have crashed in Iraq since May 2003, according to the Brookings Institution.
RPGs "arguably are the most dangerous threat'' to helicopters, says Army Maj. Ray Kimball, a history instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Cheap, easy to use, and with a long shelf life, RPGs are "the classic definition of dumb weapons. There are no guidance systems you can trick ... It's point-and-click. (Insurgents) pull the arming pin, point and pray,'' says Kimball, who also is affiliated with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
With a range of a little more than a mile, these shoulder-mounted weapons are not terribly accurate — until four or five shooters line up and fire a volley. While helicopters can deploy electronic countermeasures to fool guided missiles, Kimball says, the only defense against RPGs is to "fly very low, very fast or very high, very fast.''
The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division and a big defense contractor have expressed interest since Popular Science hit newsstands last month, Glasson says. But turning an unproved idea into a life-saver is a longshot.
"It's not entirely obvious to me why (parachutes) would be effective,'' says Michael O'Hanlon, a defense analyst at the Brookings Institution. "Can they deploy quickly enough in close quarters like an urban environment? Would they interfere with the flight of the helicopter?''
And he contends machine guns are insurgents' new weapon of choice against helicopters. While Glasson's shield still could be useful elsewhere, "I'm not sure if this is needed for Iraq,'' O'Hanlon says.
As they fall to earth, mesh chutes and their rockets also might pose risks to friendly forces and civilians on the ground, Kimball adds. That could present tough choices. Safer helicopter crews, or safer local populations? Win over the civilians, he says, and maybe nobody will shoot any RPGs.
Glasson was inspired by "Black Hawk Down,'' the story of U.S. special forces who sustained heavy losses in Somalia when two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were felled by RPGs in 1993. He was amazed low-tech weapons could inflict such damage.
"I thought, if you put something in the way of that Stone Age projectile, maybe you can impede or inhibit that projectile,'' says Glasson.
He has no military background, but his brother is an ex-Marine, and his grandfather served in both world wars. Glasson jokes he was born with a pocket protector; his first forays into engineering involved converting grandpa's lawn mowers into go-karts.
Keep-it-simple remains his guiding principle.
"This doesn't need great leaps of technology. It's taking components and putting them together in a useful way,'' says Glasson.
More than a century ago, Glasson's company sold Calculagraphs, mechanical timers for billing long-distance calls. Today, 55 employees make switches for military helicopters and Humvees, though their main business is sensors for computer-controlled hydraulics on construction equipment.
Glasson's boss, Cliff Moodie, cuts him slack for personal projects.
"He lives and breathes engineering,'' Moodie says. "He loves finding straightforward solutions to complex problems, using existing technologies and linking them in ways others haven't seen.''
After reading "Into Thin Air,'' about disaster on Mount Everest, Glasson started mulling designs for light, folding windmills to generate power in a pinch. He has plans for cheap linear actuators, components that might lead to affordable helper-robots for household chores. A casual jogger, he also is determined to create running shoes that add spring to your step.
All that sounds within reach, compared to Spider-Man grenade nets. Sometimes, Glasson says, you just need some faith in shower power.
"Twenty years ago, if you said that 5 milliseconds after a car accident we'll inflate this big air bag in front of you, people probably would have called the cops on you.''
(Kevin Coughlin covers technology for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. He can be contacted at kcoughlin(at)starledger.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
I wish him the best of luck with this but it doesn't look like he's gone far beyond the idea stage on these inventions.
This seems like a counter-measure that would be easy to counter. You simply fire your RPGs in a timed and regular series until your target exhausts his complement of rocket-nets.
Not sure no one did this before, at our archery range we had a mesh back drop that could stop bolts and arrows, it looked like a nylon fish net...
It could still raise the survivability of the helicopter.
What is this guy smoking???? If building schools, hospitals, clean water facilities and sewage treatment plants as well as ousting the murderous tyrant and his sons that killed Lord knows how many of them doesn’t stop them from shooting down helicopters, how is dropping free kevlar nets on them going to help???
Right?
Yes, Maj. Kimball, that worked really well in Viet Nam, didn't it.
It's a good thing we didn't have officers with this mindset running World War II, or we'd be speaking German and Japanese.
Rewarding your friends is fine, but you have to punish your enemies to make it really work.
Enough shots would bring it down naturally. A lot of RPGs hits come from “cheap shots” — one or two 3rd world dirtbags who carry only their rifles on them and maybe a bigger weapon (like an RPG launcher).
I’d like one of those net thingies to control my daughter’s cat!
Correct. In WW2, the gadget added to tanks to plow through hedge rows was a soldier with an idea and a welding torch.
Was it perfect? Nope. Did the job simply tho....
"Twenty years ago, if you said that 5 milliseconds after a car accident we'll inflate this big air bag in front of you, people probably would have called the cops on you.''
Incorrect, but appropriate example. Twenty years ago, the guys who were developing the systems knew that the bag would take the test dummy's head off if it was too close. Way out ideas with great promise require extra care in weeding out the unintended consequences.
What about a parachute when a helicopter goes into free-fall?
They have them for small planes now, and they’ve saved a few lives. You’d have to put the ‘chute right in the center of the rotor, probably, and it would spin with the blades.
Actually, you could even have it come out the side of the craft. The helicopter would land sideways, but that may be better than landing upright at Vi + 9.8m/s^2 * t.
“This seems like a counter-measure that would be easy to counter. You simply fire your RPGs in a timed and regular series until your target exhausts his complement of rocket-nets.”
Well, as a former helicopter pilot, I would say I, personally, would not be hanging around long enough to run out (or I would turn and let fly Hell and damnation, depending on my mood, mission, and load).
Well, as a former helicopter pilot, I would say I, personally, would not be hanging around long enough to run out (or I would turn and let fly Hell and damnation, depending on my mood, mission, and load).Oh, good point. I wasn't thinking like a pilot. I suppose you fire your net and throw yourself half-speed a-stern. Oh, wait, that's not thinking like a pilot either. I'm joking. Your point is still a good one.
And when you bring down the first chopper equipped with these, you now have a new toy to shoot at the choppers.
Kelvlar Net’s into the intake or tail rotor anyone.
Exactly what I’m thinking. I’m pretty sure some ‘defended pads’ use a very similiar system based on line throwing guns.
Yes just in time for the ‘copter to turn the guns on them
My idea is a micro Phalanx system using a .223 caliber gun instead of the 30mm gun they now use.
If you have a fast computer and a remote control gun you can make an anti rocket system on many platforms like tanks, planes and helicopters.
There is no reason this could not be done. The software is already done; you only need a 100 yard range so a small bullet is OK.
This would make all subsonic missiles obsolete.
The bullets will pose a threat to the ground forces so for close in protection a shotgun style system might be better.
Some one should make a BB gun prototype on a scale model at home so the government doesn’t spend 100 million to determine that it’s too expensive to make.
However, you have the right idea. The RPG grenade, if it fails to hit a target, is set up to detonate at a certain distance. The terrorists have gotten a lot of experience at launching RPGs to take advantage of that.
I’m waiting for some Commie genius to come up with a proximity fused RPG to make our chopper pilots even MORE miserable.
... proving yet again that if the counter-measure to your counter-measure is cheaper then the entire exercise is a waste of time. 6 choppers out of 61 downed by enemy fire? How many were due to RPG's alone? 3? 4? Are we sure that we want to put our efforts into countering a dumb weapon with a low hit rate and a lower PK?
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