Dette minner meg veldig om russernes ekranoplane, altså et Wing-in-ground-effect fly, noe det også er. Sjekk bildene over av Caspian Seamonster. Det kan være at IMO`s regler kommer inn i bildet, altså sjøfartens ICAO. C-130J Commando II prosjektet er også nevnt her. (Red.)
DARPA
wants a heavy cargo plane that can land at sea
Feb 2, 07:37 PM
General Atomics and Aurora Flight
Sciences, a subsidiary of Boeing, will develop their own competing designs for
DARPA’s mobility seaplane program, DARPA said Wednesday. DARPA has dubbed this
program the Liberty Lifter Seaplane Wing-in-Ground Effect, or Liberty Lifter
for short.
DARPA wants this aircraft to be a
long-range, low-cost aircraft around the same size and capacity as the C-17
Globemaster, which can carry more than 170,000 pounds of cargo, including a
69-ton M1 Abrams main battle tank, armored vehicles, trucks or trailers. The
C-17 can also carry and airdrop 102 paratroopers and their gear, 34 patients on
litters, or 54 ambulatory patients and their attendants.
And DARPA has set some ambitious goals
for the Liberty Lifter’s sea capabilities.
The seaplane DARPA envisions would be
more robust than some of the Navy’s in-water capabilities. Small boats, for
example, are typically limited to so-called sea state 3 conditions, where waves
are about four feet high. But the Liberty Lifter would be required to take off
and land in sea state 4, which sees waves of up to about eight feet.
At sea state 5, where waves are
considered rough and reach 13 feet, these planes would still be asked to
sustain operations. Sea state 5 is the point at which conditions start to
threaten the Navy’s ability to conduct resupply missions at sea between
auxiliary ships and warships.
The Liberty Lifter also should be
capable of extended flight close to the water, DARPA said.
DARPA is “looking forward to working
closely with both performer teams as they mature their point of departure
design concepts through Phase 1,” Christopher Kent, the agency’s program manager
for the Liberty Lifter program, said in a statement. “The two teams have taken
distinctly different design approaches that will enable us to explore a
relatively large design space during Phase 1.”
Aurora Flight Sciences' proposed
design for the Liberty Lifter is closer to a traditional "flying
boat," DARPA said, with a high wing and eight turboprops. (Aurora Flight
Sciences)
DARPA’s interest in a cargo seaplane
is the latest example of the military looking to adapt traditionally air-related capabilities to a maritime environment.
The Pentagon is growing increasingly concerned about the possibility of a war
with China, and a conflict in the Indo-Pacific region would require improved
maritime capabilities.
In 2021, for example, the Air Force
Research Laboratory tested a ship-killing GPS-guided Joint Direct Attack
Munition specially modified to strike targets on the water.
Also that year, Air Force Special
Operations Command announced it would develop a prototype amphibious version of special operators’ MC-130J Commando II,
equipped with removable pontoons.
The two companies vying to create the
Liberty Lifter took markedly different approaches, according to concept art
DARPA released.
Aurora Flight Sciences, which is
working with marine engineering company Gibbs & Cox and marine vessel
design company ReconCraft, designed a more traditional “flying boat” aircraft,
as DARPA called it. Aurora’s design has a single hull, high wings, wide
horizontal stabilizers on its tail, and eight turboprops. Its wings would also
angle down, though Aurora said they would not touch the water.
Aurora said its plane would be able to
carry two Marine Corps amphibious combat vehicles, or six 20-foot container
units.
General Atomics, along with naval
engineering and design firm Maritime Applied Physics, proposed a twin-hull,
mid-wing design, which DARPA said is intended to optimize its stability on
water. It would have 12 turboshaft propeller engines. The art also shows
stabilizers on its dual noses.
Instead of loading or unloading cargo
from an aft door and ramp, as is the case for the C-17, General Atomics’
concept art shows its plane’s noses lifting up and vehicles deploying directly
from the front, down the ramps to a beach.
DARPA in November awarded General
Atomics an $8 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for the Liberty Lifter
program, and General Atomics said its award has the potential to grow to up to
$29 million. Aurora’s contract, which DARPA awarded Jan. 27, was for $5.7
million, and could grow to more than $25 million if all options are exercised.
These Phase 1 contract awards are for
18 months, including six months of conceptual design work and nine months of
design maturation, ending in a preliminary design review. Three more months for
manufacturing planning and test and demonstration planning reviews will follow.
During the program’s first phase,
DARPA said it will work with the companies’ teams and other Defense Department
organizations to refine the two designs, particularly to meet the military’s
operational needs and operating concepts.
DARPA plans to start Phase 2 mid-2024,
as more work to flesh out the design of the Liberty Lifter continues, as well
as manufacturing and demonstration of a full-scale X-plane. DARPA expects to
team up with at least one military service, as well as international partners,
on Phase 2 as it works to further develop the concept into an operational
vehicle.
DARPA last month announced it had
selected Aurora to start designing another experimental airplane, that would
use short bursts of air to maneuver instead of traditional ailerons or other
mechanical devices, as part of the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors, or
CRANE, program.
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