Helocast

Helocasting is an airborne technique used by small unit, special operations forces, also practiced extensively by the US Army's light infantry units, to insert into a military area of operations.

[1] The small unit is flown, by helicopter, to a maritime insertion point.

Once there, the aircraft assumes an altitude just above the water's surface and an airspeed of 10 knots (19 km/h) or less.

In some cases, depending upon the mission parameters and the aircraft used, personnel may be inserted along with an inflatable boat for over-the-horizon operations.

When a fully inflated boat is transported and inserted with personnel, this type of operation is known as a "hard duck".