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DARPA Developing Wing-In-Ground Effect Cargo Seaplane
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is working on a new X-plane under the Liberty Lifter Seaplane Wing-in-Ground Effect full-scale demonstrator program. Two teams, General Atomics working with Maritime Applied Physics Corporation and Aurora Flight Sciences working with Gibbs & Cox and ReconCraft, have been selected to develop designs to create a long-range, low-cost X-Plane capable of seaborne strategic and tactical heavy lift, similar in size and capacity to the C-17 Globemaster… (theaviationist.com) Altro...
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Very interesting article. Thank you @Tom Novak!
To this untrained eye (seat of the pants?), ground effect is a pretty impressive phenomenon.
To this untrained eye (seat of the pants?), ground effect is a pretty impressive phenomenon.
This brings to mind a DARPA project called Walrus in the early 2000s to develop a huge airship that could carry 1000 troops. Evidently sanity returned and the project was cancelled after the waste of a fair bit of taxpayer money. Incidentally the USSR had a ground-effect seaplane, the MD-160 nicknamed the Caspian Sea Monster, operational from 1987 until the late 1990s.
I don't get it; this isn't really anything new.
Remember Boeing Pelican?
Or even those Caspian Sea Monster Soviets made in the 70's?
As far as I understood, those projects weren't abandoned due to of technology (such as YB-49 flying wing was abounded because of no fly-by-wire back then). Those projects were abandoned because problem with rough seas.
Remember Boeing Pelican?
Or even those Caspian Sea Monster Soviets made in the 70's?
As far as I understood, those projects weren't abandoned due to of technology (such as YB-49 flying wing was abounded because of no fly-by-wire back then). Those projects were abandoned because problem with rough seas.
Finally the west will catch up to the fine soviet engineers. Of the glorious CCP. -totally sarcastic!
But seriously it sounds like a stupid waste of cash. What new is there to investigate?
But seriously it sounds like a stupid waste of cash. What new is there to investigate?
Great in calm seas, but also within the ground effect - wind waves and rogue waves! No thanks!
Buying a few more supply ships would be much cheaper.