Marines recruit skydiving machines for combat duty.

The Marine Corps has acquired steerable parachutes that can be deployed from two miles in the air and place their cargo within less than 200 meters of their intended target. Called the Sherpa, the global positioning system-guided parachutes can be dropped day or night and are able to keep aircraft and aircrews out of harm's way.

Army soldiers also operate the Sherpa. Capt. Art Pack, a combat developer assigned to the Army's Combined Arms Support Command in Fort Lee, Va., said with the Sherpa, pilots do not need to see the drop zone. As a matter of fact, drops could be made as far as nine miles away.

He suggested that multiple Sherpas, each with a different destination, could be dropped from a single pass.

A complete set that encompasses a body, canopy, riggings, remote control, rechargeable batteries and software costs $68,000. That compares to $11,000 for a "dumb" cargo parachute.