It's dropping dirt-bullets out of the sky with enough momentum to penetrate dirt -- probably enough to penetrate most flesh.
Air-dropping pinecones and seeds, however, might be sufficient (and very fast). Cones and seeds are already designed to fall at/near terminal velocity and later on yield a tree.
It'd definitely make me smile to see a Hercules flying across recently-logged terrain or historically-deforested offloading tons of seeds that drift to the ground to start a new life.
True - my point wasn’t to imply that you’ll have no animal casualties at all, but that unless you’re literally dropping one shell per square meter, the casualty rate would be acceptable.
Air-dropping pinecones and seeds, however, might be sufficient (and very fast). Cones and seeds are already designed to fall at/near terminal velocity and later on yield a tree.
It'd definitely make me smile to see a Hercules flying across recently-logged terrain or historically-deforested offloading tons of seeds that drift to the ground to start a new life.