U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- An invention by former cadets at the Air Force Academy to get troops out of an aircraft and on the ground in a hurry will be reviewed for patenting by legal staff at Air Force Materiel Command in Ohio.
The auto-belay insertion system earned cadet researchers the top spots in the springtime Defense Advanced Research Project Agency Innovation Challenge and Air Force Research Laboratory Service Academy Challenge. The cadets retooled the traditional Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction System used to lower service members one-at-a-time to the ground from an aircraft.
“Our goal is to change the way people are thinking about getting on the ground,” said 2nd Lt. Shane Riley.
The cadet’s auto-belay insertion system carries more weight, lowers several people at once, is faster than the traditional Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction System used by the U.S. military, and uses a breaking system to slow and stop fast-ropers before they reach the ground.
“When [special forces] are heavily loaded with [equipment], it’s hard to stop without a breaking system,” said 2nd Lt. Nathan Szuch.
One requirement for the project was to create a system allowing troops to safely and quickly descend from specified aircraft 20 to 90 feet above ground, according to the AFRL.
“Cadets looked at the whole fast-rope system and came up with about 150 designs,” said Daniel Jensen, a professor of mechanical engineering at the Academy.
Jensen said instead of looking for ways to improve the fast rope system, commonly used by special forces, they redesigned it.
“The idea is that we push for high numbers, even if that idea defies physics,” he said. “We then filter and build upon the ideas that are innovative and possible.”
Riley and Szuch are among the cadet researchers who graduated from the Academy June 2.
The AFMC is responsible for the development of Air Force equipment.