Do critters need parachutes?

Al's been working on his power armor, and has started thinking about combat drops. He'd considered parachutes to facilitate this, but then he thought of the Square-Cube Law and had a thought: are parachutes really necessary?

Now, the question is a bit more than just that. He's not the only critter out there who will be needing to drop into combat, and he can't make powered armor for everyone. The larger creatures he works with (badgers, otters, et cetera) will have to make do with parachutes, but he's looking for a better option for smaller critters (who may just be too small for parachutes to get them to the ground at any reasonable pace). So, for a creature of about 1-2 lbs,

1. Would a parachute be completely unnecessary (or, funnier still, too effective to reach the ground any time soon)?
2. If a parachute is not completely unnecessary, is there a simpler alternative with a reasonable rate of success?

(Also I could use some help with tags for this question, because I found a bunch of stuff for flight, but not much for falling.)

posted about 8 years ago

Lepidolite Mica‭

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