To be fair…reading through this thread @Brett327 earned the right to hand us this “I told you so.”There’s no requirement for that capability. Requirements drive acquisitions.
To be fair…reading through this thread @Brett327 earned the right to hand us this “I told you so.”There’s no requirement for that capability. Requirements drive acquisitions.
If I wanted to shoot down a weather balloon from China, I’d use a four engine seaplane, like any normal person.How the fuck do you look at a weather balloon from China and infer a need for a seaplane capability?
Isn't there a couple of those sitting somewhere on a Black Sea beach?DARPA just awarded two contracts to develop wing in ground effect craft (seaplanes) so “I told you so” is retracted.
Howard Hughes wants his plans back!Well that’s why they canned the 130!
I work with folks that are in the thick of this project. Their focus has been on getting both the cost and weight down, and they did some seedlings on structure fabrication that proved they could make a sturdy as heck aluminum wing for reasonable cost. That’s why none of the shapes in the plane are super crazy with exotic compound curves. All developable surfaces you can make starting from from flat plate.Well that’s why they canned the 130!
Any lighter-than-air concepts? LTA and in-ground-effect could be capable platforms for some things.I work with folks that are in the thick of this project. Their focus has been on getting both the cost and weight down, and they did some seedlings on structure fabrication that proved they could make a sturdy as heck aluminum wing for reasonable cost. That’s why none of the shapes in the plane are super crazy with exotic compound curves. All developable surfaces you can make starting from from flat plate.
It’s meant to live in the water too. As much boat as plane.
Would be interesting to have them do some noodling on using graphene as an additive to improve strength and reduce weight.I work with folks that are in the thick of this project. Their focus has been on getting both the cost and weight down, and they did some seedlings on structure fabrication that proved they could make a sturdy as heck aluminum wing for reasonable cost. That’s why none of the shapes in the plane are super crazy with exotic compound curves. All developable surfaces you can make starting from from flat plate.
It’s meant to live in the water too. As much boat as plane.
Pretty sure the Army uses amphibious armored vehicles, because when you encounter things like rivers and very large streams, being able to just drive across is very handy. Not all of their vehicles are amphibious though.Oh, I don’t know….maybe the article:
“The U.S.’s Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) is seeking an experimental “X-Plane” approach to create a new Wing-in-Ground (WIG) Effect seaplane to transport (amphibious) armored vehicles and heavy cargo at flying speeds above the wavetops for naval forces.”
I don’t know if the Army or Air Force uses Amphibious Armored Vehicles….but I highly doubt it. ??
How the fuck do you look at a weather balloon from China and infer a need for a seaplane capability?
Clearly, we have ships attending to that right now.Well, if we had a seaplane, it could have landed near where the wreckage landed in the ocean. Which would be nice.
I think you missed my attempt at humor. I know the Navy has ships in the Atlantic to take care of such things. In fact, I know pretty much exactly where one of them was this afternoon.Clearly, we have ships attending to that right now.
But we could have seaplanes attending to it in the future ?Clearly, we have ships attending to that right now.