Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Concrete Glider

Concrete Glider is one of the Voshkod's support powers.

Overview
"There is a small chance that someone could build a working concrete glider. I certainly wouldn't get into it."

-Physicist Adam Savage.

A recent breakthrough in Voshkod paratrooper technology is the invention of the new Utility Transport 185 or Concrete Glider, also jokingly known among the Vieran Airborne as the "Concrete Box". This invention has been successful in eliminating the most vulnerable period of an airborne assault where the soldier's life is literally hanging from a (few) thread(s).

Many experienced airborne divisions have been lost to a small squadron of Multigunner IFV Mk. Is or other anti-air defenses. One famous example was the Kenson Incident, where nearly the entire initial attack force was wiped out. Although most of the Vierans were able to escape their doomed Tu-160, the three minutes it took for them to reach the ground was more than enough for the LAV-25s on the ground to eliminate them.

In response to this incident, Voshkod high command has ordered for the design and manufacture of an aircraft that could deposit large amounts of troops on the ground while eliminating the notorious "hang time" which has claimed the lives of so many comrades. One of the first solutions was to use modified Tu-160 Bombers with reinforced landing gears and STOAL engine pods that could land on the battlefield and deliver much-needed supplies. However, secret field tests at the Battle of Aomori proved that the thin-skinned Tu-160 was unsuitable for aerial insertions and was better off working as supply aircraft.

Surprisingly, the solution came from the Saratov Aviation Plant's team of designers, whom most see as hopelessly old-fashioned people who design obsolete aircraft. However, their latest design was anything but old-fashioned. Instead of using a reusable aircraft that could be easily destroyed or commandeered on the ground, they decided to mass-produce a cheap, one-use glider that was made out of the cheapest and most readily available material they could find: concrete.

The glider could carry a whopping eighteen troops or two tanks and could be rapidly deployed across the front. Two UT-185s could be towed behind a single Tu-160 to thirty thousand feet before being released from their lead aircraft and gliding for up to fifty miles before crash-landing into the LZ.

After the initial shock of crashing into battle in what seemed to be a large flying coffin, the UT-185 was widely accepted among the Spetsnaz due to its ability to provide shelter for its cargo after impact as well as terminate anything that happened to be dumb enough to not dodge a falling mass of concrete. Other advantages include the ability of a squad to remain together after impact and a small supply of Vodka stashed on board on long missions. These capabilities couple well with the Airborne's advanced training and versatility and turn the Airborne from a large group of sitting ducks into a formidable fighting machine.