It is probably one of the most unlikely military inventions ever put into use, and all the more surprisingly, only resulted in one fatality during its 28 years of operation.

It then rapidly hauls in enough rope to get the evacuee safely above ground, before slowly pulling in the rest while they slipstream behind the plane as it pulls away towards its cruising altitude. The agent puts on a harness, inflates a helium balloon attached to it, and lets the balloon float off into the sky, where a plane with a specially-designed attachment scoops it up, catching hold of the cord. The STARS fit nicely into the world of Metal Gear Solid, with its mixture of cutting-edge real-world tech and science fiction gadgets, and at first glance, it is so bizarre that it seems like it could only have come from the fictional side of the divide.

The surprise star of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system (or STARS), an experimental technology dating back to the 1950s that allowed a covert operative be airlifted out of hostile territory by an aeroplane travelling at low altitude.

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