by Shaun Hall

Video from DARPA via AirForceMag.com

Paratroopers are often asked at the Veterans Breakfast Club, “Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane?” But did you know that besides dropping everything from rations to troops to equipment, C-130s are being used to catch objects in mid-flight? Recently a C-130 caught a X-61 drone in what is being called an Airborne Recovery Test. You can watch the incredible video at AirForceMag.com. Turns out, this is old news. During the Cold War, the Air Force would use C-119 Flying Boxcars and eventually C-130s to catch spy satellite photos that were ejected from space! You read that right. WeAreTheMighty.com has the photos and graphics to prove how this feat was possible.

C-130 Catches an X-61 Gremlins Vehicle in Airborne Recovery Test

This Air Force unit caught spy satellite photos as they fell from space