Commando bounce

Previous posts showed F-35 obsolete

The following might be a way for commandos to be able to deploy close to an objective for an assault.  Alternatively, it might be a way to ask trained soldiers to commit suicide or risk being crippled for life.

   The commando would place all equipment and his rifle on the front of his chest.  This is to prevent objects being driven into his back and causing spinal damage if he strikes trees, fence posts, etc.  Next a rigid back support would be fitted to protect his neck and spine from collisions. It might also be a good idea to wear knee and elbow protection as well as a shock absorbing  covering over his heels to protect both his heels and his knee, which could be whiplashed if the heel strikes the ground.  Then he would pull on a suit consisting of inflatable plastic  air bags.  It might be necessary to have a tube with blown, cooled air blown into the suit from a helicopter mounted air conditioning unit.  This is to prevent heat prostration of the wearer of the plastic suit in hot climates.
   For use; the commandos would stand in the door of the helicopter flying low and fast, they would face the rear, and on signal jump as a group.  Shock cords attached to the helicopter would activate gas charges which would hopefully fill the suits.  They would then strike the ground and bounce a few times before stopping.  At this point, they would open valves deflating the suits and emerge from them.  It would be necessary  to have some form of aerodynamic drag attached to the front of the suit to keep the commandos back towards ground contact.
   Helicopters are extremely vulnerable when transitioning form forward flight to landing, and even more vulnerable when changing from take-off to forward flight, they are moving slowly, which makes them an easy target to hit, and they are slow and clumsy in maneuvering. This requires landing sights to be sheltered from fire, and consequently often a distance form the objective, or a hope that surprise will actually be achieved.  By flying low and fast, infra-red manpads cannot acquire and track for attack and RPGs do not have enough time to be fired accurately.
    The rifles carried by the commandos would have to be short, with folding stocks or a bull pup design.  After emerging from the suits the equipment can be moved to the commandos back. Larger weapons, such as machine guns and wire guided missiles,  could be placed in panniers made of shock resistant plastic and attached to the outside of the helicopter to be dropped  before the commandos jump.  The panniers would have less drag and would travel farther.
   Additionally, the helicopters could fire smoke grenades to obscure the landing.