Aircraft Carriers in the Sky
US DARPA wants to revamp large transport aircraft to turn them into "Airborne UAV Aircraft Carriers". According to DARPA, modern military missions rely on massive engagement with aircraft.
US DARPA wants to retrofit large transport aircraft to turn them into "Airborne UAV Aircraft Carriers".
DARPA (The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is a government agency of the US Department of Defense responsible for developing new technologies for use by the US armed forces (see Ref.-1 for more information).
According to DARPA, modern military missions rely heavily on engagement with aircraft. Before combat begins, fighters and bombers fly past enemy lines, disabling enemy radars and anti-aircraft installations and clearing a safe path for other attacking aircraft, land and sea vessels. While these missions are usually successful, they carry the risk that pilots and other operators will be shot down, killed or left behind enemy lines. These risks are very serious and concerning, and it is imperative that all factors, especially technology, are used to mitigate them, and that new measures are put in place. The conceptual design we will describe here has been seriously considered and discussed as far back as the 1970s.
While UAVs are an immediate and obvious solution to remove people from the initial phase of a military operation, existing UAV systems are too slow to dodge incoming fire. DARPA is considering the use of large transport aircraft such as the C-130 as airborne UAV carriers to help solve this problem, or at least provide a temporary solution until autonomous supersonic aircraft can be built.
Aircraft Carriers in the Sky:
DARPA wants to find ways to make smaller aircraft more effective, and one promising idea is to turn existing large aircraft into "Aircraft Carriers in the Sky" with minimal modifications.
They envision innovative launch and recovery concepts for new UAV/UAV designs that would combine the latest advances in small payload design and collaborative technologies. Small but advanced UAVs to perform mission-critical surveillance and strike sorties.
Whether the launched UAVs will return to a mothership or to a complex "caravan transportation" arrangement that recycles "on demand" is still under debate. Given the fluidity of warfare, we assess that these flying transports (flying aircraft carrier) will drop their cargo, flee dangerous airspace, and return only to pick up drones that need to land immediately.
Project Realization Time is Very Short:
DARPA wants to deliver the desired system to the US Air Force in four years. With a relatively short development and manufacturing time of four years, this is a lot to ask of any aircraft design firm willing to submit a proposal and take on the project.
Among the many technologies and modifications that need to be developed or upgraded are precision navigation systems, drones with miniaturized weapons, advanced flight logistics, radars and stealth systems, and, of course, the complete replacement of one of the US Air Force's largest transport aircraft.
Adding to the difficulty of these endeavors, DARPA has a very short timeline for idea and subsequent design development, a third of a four-year lead time.
All US aerospace companies interested in proposing a solution and taking on the project have been asked to submit their work before the end of this year (2023). Immediately afterwards, the contractor for the project will be selected.
Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works" and Boeing's "Phantom Works" are expected to compete for the project (see Ref.-2 for detailed information on Skunk Works and Phantom Works). Northrop Grumman is also known to be working intensively on small but highly advanced armed UAVs. We believe that this is a project that will also be of interest to General Atomics and others.
If everything goes according to DARPA's timetable, by early 2029 we will see "aircraft carriers flying in the sky".
References:
1. Doesn't Turkey Need a Turkish DARPA Similar to Pentagon's Brain DARPA?
2. Skunk Works...Every Country Needs
https://strasam.org/savunma/havacilik-ve-uzay-sanayii/skunk-worksher-ulkeye-lazim-1353
