A STRANGE flying object, bigger than a bird but smaller than a plane, will appear in the skies above eastern Germany next week.

Those who look closely will see a winged creature clad in black, swooping and gliding at speeds of up to 140mph. Speculation that this could be a Batman-style superhero will be silenced only when a parachute begins to unfold at 1,220m (4,000ft).

The one-man flying wing is the latest military tool, allowing special forces troops to glide undetected up to 200km (125 miles) into enemy territory. Britain is one of several countries watching the trials with a view to equipping its paratroops with the new device.

The caped soldiers can be dropped outside hostile airspace and directed to their targets by radio. The carbon- fibre wing is virtually invisible to radar and cannot be heard from the ground.

Frank Carreras, the skydiving instructor who is testing the delta wing, likens the experience to riding a powerful motorbike. “You are never really sure whether you are flying the wing or it is flying you,” he told The Times. “The G-force on the turns is exhilarating and you have this peculiar sensation of freedom and power which birds must feel.

“You steer using flaps on the trailing edge of the wing, which you control by twisting handgrips like a motorbike accelerator.”

Mr Carreras, 38, who is also a light-aircraft pilot, said that it took a combination of piloting and skydiving skills to maintain stability and follow a precise course.

He has completed 30 flights in the United Arab Emirates, France, the Czech Republic and Germany. His longest flight has been 10km, starting from an altitude of 4,875m (16,000ft).

He plans to raise the starting altitude in stages to 11,275m and fly 48km during tests over Eisenach, eastern Germany.

The wing is unpowered, but ESG, the company that is developing it, is working on an advanced version with two turbojet engines originally designed for large model aircraft. The powered wing, which weighs 20kg (44lb), will be able to travel four times as far, allowing a soldier to fly the distance of London to Birmingham before deploying the parachute.

Mr Carreras has to agree a flight plan with air traffic controllers before each jump to avoid conflicting with aircraft. He carries an oxygen system and wears a thermal suit to withstand temperatures of minus 55C (-67F).

As he enters the final approach, he deploys the parachute and pulls a safety catch that releases the wing. While descending under the parachute, he lowers the wing about 3.7m (12ft) below him on a rope. If he is falling too fast he can release the wing and allow it to descend under its own reserve parachute.

Paratroopers are already able to use specially designed parachutes to glide for several miles from their drop-off point. The advantage of the wing is that it can reach the target far more quickly, reducing the vulnerable period during which the soldier is floating beneath a canopy.

Normal parachutes are also susceptible to the weather, but the wing can fly into a strong headwind. The faster approach reduces the time that the soldier is exposed to extreme cold at high altitude. If in danger, he can dive the wing directly towards the ground, reaching a terminal velocity of 250mph before deploying his chute.

ESG said that the Ministry of Defence and the defence departments in India, Pakistan and the US had registered an interest in the project. But the wing, which costs €15,000 (£10,300), is expected to enter service first with the German special forces next year.

ESG does not expect to generate much interest from the leisure skydiving market because the wing can be launched only from a large transport aircraft, such as a C130 Hercules, that has a rear loading ramp. The pilot stands on the edge of the ramp, facing towards the nose of the aircraft, and steps backwards, like a scuba diver entering the water.

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