An airdrop is a type of airlift, developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible troops, who themselves may have been airborne forces. In some cases, it is used to refer to the airborne assault itself. Early airdrops were conducted by dropping or pushing padded bundles from aircraft. Later small crates with parachutes were pushed out of the aircraft's side cargo doors. Later cargo aircraft were designed with rear access ramps, lowerable in flight, that allowed large platforms to be rolled out the back.

As aircraft grew larger, the U.S. Air Force and Army developed low-level extraction, allowing tanks and other large supplies to be delivered, such as the M551 Sheridan or M2 Bradley. Propaganda leaflets are also a common item to airdrop.

The airdropping of weapons evolved to the concept of having the payload itself as one massive bomb. The 15,000 pound (6,800 kg) BLU-82, nicknamed the "Daisy Cutter" for its ability to turn a dense forest into a helicopter landing zone in a single blast, was used in Vietnam and recently in Afghanistan. The 22,600 pound (10,250 kg) GBU-43/B, nicknamed the "Mother Of All Bombs", was deployed to the Persian Gulf for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These palletized airdropped weapons are used by cargo aircraft like the C-130 or C-17 in the traditional role of a bomber aircraft.

Sir James Dyson (born 2 May 1947) is a British industrial designer and founder of the Dyson company.

He is best known as the inventor of the Dual Cyclone bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the principle of cyclonic separation. His net worth in 2011 was said to be £1.45 billion.

Dyson was born in Cromer, Norfolk, England, being one of three children. Dyson was sent to Gresham's School boarding school, Holt, Norfolk, from 1956 to 1965, when his father died of cancer. James excelled in long distance running: "I was quite good at it, not because I was physically good, but because I had more determination. I learnt determination from it." He spent one year (1965–1966) at the Byam Shaw School of Art (now part of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design), and then studied furniture and interior design at the Royal College of Art (1966–1970) before moving into engineering.^{[citation needed]}

The Sea Truck, Dyson's first product, was launched in 1970 while he was at the Royal College of Art. His next product, the Ballbarrow, was a modified version of a wheelbarrow using a ball instead of a wheel. This was featured on the BBC's "Tomorrow's World" television programme. Dyson stuck with the idea of a ball which his brother had thought of, inventing the Trolleyball, a trolley that launched boats. He then designed the Wheelboat, which could travel at speeds of 64 kilometres per hour (40 mph) on both land and water.