Enormt fly som skal frakte vindturbinblader er av interesse for USAF - AVweb

 

Windrunner har vært omtalt her på bloggen tidligere. (Red.)

Air Force Eyes Enormous Cargo Plane

With its 8,000 cubic meter cargo hold, the WindRunner has attracted the attention of the Air Force.

Russ Niles

·Sunday, May 25, 2025

 Radia

The Air 

Force has given a lift to an audacious program to build the world’s biggest airplane. USAF reasons that an airplane big enough to carry wind turbine blades and land on gravel runways might have military applications so its entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to advance the development of Radia WindRunner. “By leveraging the unique design and capabilities of the WindRunner, we can together explore innovative solutions for transporting outsized and high-volume cargo, enhancing the DoD’s ability to respond to global challenges,” said Mark Lundstrom, Radia Founder and CEO.

WindRunner was conceived as a solution to a problem far removed from the logistical needs of the military. Wind turbines are restricted in size (and therefore efficiency) because of transportation limitations. Radia figured that there are plenty of places that get lots of wind that would accommodate an unpaved runway big enough to launch an recover a giant airplane so it designed the WindRunner specifically to carry a 340-foot turbine blade. The result is an 8,000 cubic meter cargo hold with a nose that flips up out of the way. The Air Force came calling and suddenly the rather specialized market for WindRunner expanded.

“The WindRunner allows the world’s biggest things to be delivered to the hardest-to-reach locations. This collaboration demonstrates how commercial capabilities may help to support U.S. national defense by integrating with and addressing military needs,” Lundstrom said. The joint research project will look at the full gamut of integrating the huge airplane into Air Force operations from the types of loads it could carry to how to use it in military actions. There will be a lot of attention paid to its airfield needs, including the services and equipment that will be needed to accommodate the enormous airplane