Airborne aircraft carriers? Pentagon is working on it

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published Nov 11, 2014 5:03 PM KST
• Updated Nov 11, 2014 5:03 PM KST

The Pentagon is seeking to build an airborne aircraft carrier, akin to the one seen in the Hollywood film “Avengers,” which hovers in the sky using four giant fans.

The Washington Business Journal (WBJ) reported Monday that the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is looking to gather data on building what could be the “mother of all ships.”

The closest thing to such an idea at present is Lockheed Martin’s C-130 Hercules, a transport aircraft introduced in 1956.

The upcoming airborne launch and recovery system would provide an unmanned platform for military drones that would engage in distributed warfare. The aircraft would reportedly help get the drones to tough-to-reach places.

The WBJ said DARPA wants companies participating in the project to come up with ideas for “low-cost reusable unmanned platforms to function with airborne launch and recovery systems” and “precision relative navigation” that would enable coordinated flight activities among aircraft.

DARPA aims to gather the data for the next four years to realize the project, WBJ said.