An Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Mass Supply Load lands on Holland Drop Zone, Fort Bragg, North Carolina during operational testing. (Photo by Mr. Christopher O’Leary, Audio Visual Production Specialist, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
A stick of Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) loads are airdropped from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft using gravity released method. (Photo by Mr. Jim Finney, Photographer, Test Support Contractor, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
A stick of Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) loads are gravity released airdropped from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. (Photo by Mr. Jim Finney, Photographer, Test Support Contractor, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
By Mr. Wayne Lovely, Military Test Plans Analyst, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command Public Affairs
FORT BRAGG, North Carolina – 82nd Airborne Division Soldiers tested a parachute system that delivers military equipment and mass supply loads at lower altitudes during tactical airdrop operations.
Soldiers from 151st Quartermaster Company, 11th Quartermaster Company and 82nd Financial Management Support Unit, 82nd Sustainment Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division worked with the new Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System-Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS).
An Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Mass Supply Load is airdropped using gravity release method during the Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Follow-on Test and Evaluation (FOT&E) from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. (U.S. Army Operational Test Command photo)
An Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Mass Supply Load is airdropped using gravity release method during the Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Follow-on Test and Evaluation (FOT&E) from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. (U.S. Army Operational Test Command photo)
An Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Mass Supply Load is airdropped using gravity release method during the Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Follow-on Test and Evaluation (FOT&E) from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. (U.S. Army Operational Test Command photo)
“It is a great opportunity to be part of operational testing and to see new equipment that is the future of heavy parachutes in the rigger field,” said Spc. Nicholas Rowan, 151st Quartermaster Company.
The G-16 cargo parachute will allow for units to airdrop at a lower altitude and reduce the number of parachutes required for dual row airdrop system airdrop loads.
It also reduces the number of parachutes required while minimizing recovery time.
“The G-16 cargo parachute will provide expeditionary delivery of military equipment and supplies which in return allows operational units to perform speedy recovery before their follow-on mission,” said Sgt. 1st Class Juan Cruz, ALVADS-DRAS Test Noncommissioned Officer, with the U.S. Army Operational Test Command’s Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate.
A U.S. Air Force K-Loader pulls up to the ramp of an Air Force C-17 aircraft with an Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) load. (Photo by Mr. Jim Finney, Photographer, Test Support Contractor, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
An M997 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) is loaded onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft during the Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Follow-on Test and Evaluation (FOT&E). (Photo by Mr. Christopher O’Leary, Audio Visual Production Specialist, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
An M997 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) is airdropped using gravity release method during the Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) Follow-on Test and Evaluation (FOT&E) from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. (Photo by Mr. Christopher O’Leary, Audio Visual Production Specialist, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
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About the Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate:
The Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate (ABNSOTD) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina — whose lineage traces directly back to the original Parachute Test Platoon of 1940 — is home to the U.S. Army’s only operational test paratroopers, who conduct operational testing for joint airborne contingency and Special Operations Forces in support of the acquisition decision-making process. To provide airdrop certification of all airborne and airdropped equipment, ABNSOTD plans, executes and reports on its operational tests and field experiments, which impacts doctrine, training, organization and materiel.
Soldiers recover a G-16 cargo parachute on the Holland Drop Zone, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. (Photo by Mr. Jim Finney, Photographer, Test Support Contractor, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
Soldiers inspect a G-16 cargo parachute after airdrop on the drop zone prior to recovery. (Photo by Mr. Jim Finney, Photographer, Test Support Contractor, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
An M997 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) on the drop zone after a successful Advanced Low Velocity Airdrop System – Dual Row Airdrop System (ALVADS-DRAS) airdrop from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. (Photo by Mr. Jim Finney, Photographer, Test Support Contractor, Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate, U.S. Army Operational Test Command)
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