* Photo: Tom Schierlitz * What it is: Stara Technologies Mosquito
What it's used for: Air-dropping packages to precise coordinates
It's easy to drop stuff out of a low-flying chopper and have it land where you want. But in a war zone, low-altitude aircraft draw attention — and gunfire. To avoid the bad guys, high-flying planes can release Stara's Mosquito. Its customizable cylinder, which can handle up to 150 pounds, contains a GPS unit and servomotor for steering the parachute to a drop site up to 2 miles away. Actuators cut loose the payload at a preset altitude (from 50 to 1,500 feet). This way, anyone tracking the chute will end up as much as a half mile from the goods, which may be camouflaged as, say, a fist-sized rock (like above). The company is promoting the $10,000 Mosquito for special forces deliveries — money, passports, blood packets. Our dream app: air-dropping pizzas to our patio in five minutes or less, guaranteed.
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