Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: Scott.Johnson@p0.f7.n391.z8.fidonet.org (Scott Johnson) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Airborne Operations Message-ID: <1990Jul5.020552.14422@cbnews.att.com> Date: 5 Jul 90 02:05:52 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: FidoNet node 8:391/7.0 - The Ozark Con, Fayetteville AR Lines: 37 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Scott.Johnson@p0.f7.n391.z8.fidonet.org (Scott Johnson) If memory serves, the US stopped using gliders after WWII, because of their extreme vulnerablility and difficulty of logistical support (you have to ha not only risk the glider to AA fire, but the tow aircraft also). I don't think anybody else uses them anyymore, either, but I am not sure. The tradeoffs of paratrooper ops is vulnerability . A paratrooper, hanging from a parachute for several minutes, is possibly the easiest target in the military world (except for grounded airplanes, maybe). Until he gets clear of that parachute, he is a target, not a soldier . THat was the reason for the developement of gliders. Paratroop ops had such a high potential for casuualties that it was thought that it would be better to put them all in a ctransport that could land and then be discarded. The transport could manuveer (sp?) and (hopefully) avoid AA, and large numbers of troops could be landed in one spot safely. In execution, however, the gliders were bears to handle, the pilots that flew them were poorly trained, and they were almost as easy a target as the parachute. Today most paratroop ops are conducted from hhelicopter. The troops are kept low, out of AA and missle fire, in a h (relatively) fast, manuverable craft. They repel off the helicopter and are on the ground and ready to fight in a few seconds. The largest a glider ever got was a Messcherschmidt (sp?) type. It was larger than a C-47, and required either two Me-110's or its own special-designed towinng aircraft. [mod.note: That's "Messerschmitt", and the gliders was the Me 321 "Gigant." - Bill ] -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- N.W. Arkansas' UUCP to FidoNet Connection. If you are interested in connecting up Contact Kenneth Whelan. Addresses postmaster@palace or at 1:391/9(Fido) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------