Darryn Campbell
Software Engineer, Embedded Software Group
Software Task Leader, Joint Precision Airdrop
System Mission Planner (J PADS-MP)
 Until recently, precision airdrops to resupply ground troops could be achieved only from very low altitudes, which left
delivery aircraft and crew vulnerable to ground threats. Since JPADS was rushed into service in summer 2006 in
Afghanistan and Iraq, delivery aircraft have been taking little ground fire—a fact that pleases Darryn Campbell.
“It’s not often you have the opportunity to work on a project where you are able to see the product put to immediate use,
let alone see it have the kind of critical, life-saving impact that this is having,” says Campbell, software task leader for the
project. Since August 2006, over six million pounds of supplies have been airdropped using the system.
JPADS enables accurate, high-altitude aerial delivery of supplies and logistics to ground forces in all weather conditions.
It features autonomous GPS-guided steering systems that direct parafoils and their payloads to specified drop zones
approximately the size of a soccer field. Draper’s mission planner (MP) incorporates the latest wind and meteorological
data with airdrop system dynamics and drop-zone locations to determine timing and locations for airdrop deployments.
Beyond protecting aircraft and crew, the MP helps pinpoint short delivery windows and precise delivery locations,
minimizing risk to ground troops.
This past winter, soldiers stranded in the mountains of Afghanistan, knowing nothing but their coordinates, received an
emergency airdrop of food, warm clothing, and supplies after their helicopter was forced down in bad weather. “There
are no words for how that makes our whole team feel to have been able to contribute to this new capability and help
enable that kind of success,” says Campbell. |
