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The article reports on the announcement by the French army of competitive bids for the development of airdrop-capable vehicles in March 2016. Topics covered include the continued improvements to French technique for airdropping heavy vehicles into battle zones, the airdrop-capable vehicles to replace the bulldozers that France is developing, such as the tractor leveler, known by the French acronym TNA, and details of the contract.

The article examines a cargo glider developed by the aircraft industry firm Logistic Gliders for use in airdropping military supplies to armed forces. The design of the rigid-wing glider is considered in relationship to its possible mission for U.S. armed forces of delivering equipment and supplies to forces without the need to suppress local air defenses.

The article discusses the development of guidance, navigation, and control software by Draper Laboratory to increase the accuracy of the U.S. Army's Joint Precision Airdrop (Jpads) 2K system. Topics include the challenges of cargo resupply in Afghanistan and how Draper's autonomous technology is improving the capability of unmanned systems.

The article reports that the Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. is developing unmanned operational abilities for the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. It is to be used primarily for unmanned resupply missions, and is part of a plan to make all Black Hawks optionally piloted. Jesse Lesperance, autonomy lead for Sikorsky, is quoted commenting on the usefulness of unmanned logistic resupply operations.

The article reports on the use of the Precision Air Drop System by the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan to re-supply troops. The system includes Global Positioning System that allows aircrew to steer the pallete once it is released from the transport aircraft. Planning System Inc., a subsidiary of British defense-technology company Qinetiq, developed the system.

Reports on the testing of the Army's container delivery system using the Air Force/McDonnell Douglas C-17 transport. Cargo configuration tests; Angle of flight; Airspeed.