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The 5th Quartermaster Company, 21st Special Troops Battalion became the first regular Army unit to train on the 2,200-pound load-carrying capable Firefly Joint Precision Air Delivery System Sept. 7 to 18.
The 2K Firefly JPADS allows more accurate air drops into remote areas and provides a better covert approach for the delivery aircraft.
“This particular system has been in development for five or six years,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Bobby Davis, who was representing the Aerial Delivery and Field Services Division of the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps Center and School. “It was developed from a radio-guided system, which is now a GPS-guided system. You can put in the grid coordinates to the destination you want it to impact, and once you log the grid destination in there it gives the aircraft the ability to fly offset to the drop zone.”
The 2K Firefly is able to carry up to 2,200 pounds, and the point of impact ranges from 50 to 150 meters to the grid point based on the weight of the load it is carrying, Officer Davis said.
According to information provided by the developer of the 2K Firefly, users of the system only need to input the location of the impact point and the weight of the load. The system reads the wind and flight data automatically several times a second to make continual adjustments to its flight path, so that it can land on the correct
coordinates. In addition to it being more accurate, the system also makes it easier for those on the receiving end.
“You can pinpoint where you want it to go, which makes it easier for the person receiving it,” said Sgt. Todd Harrell, a rigger with the 5th QM Co. “They don’t have to search for it.”
During the two-week training course, the riggers learned how to properly lay out the
system, how to pack it up, how to attach it to the load and how to program it.
After taking a test, the riggers were certified to use the system for their air drops.
