mention flying aircraft carrier, many people may think it is something in science fiction, but in fact, as early as 80 years ago, the US Navy had built it . Now is the era of drones, and some people have proposed to build flying aircraft carriers.
A reporter recommended his view in the Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Academy's professional journal that the U.S. Navy should consider reactivating the concept of catastrophic death in the 1930s.
Kyle Mizokami believes that the U.S. fleet should consider large airships as a carrier for drones, which is essentially an upgrade of the fleet’s expensive Akron-class airship experiments more than 80 years ago. Airships can complement billion-dollar aircraft carriers.
Mizokami wrote that there is now the necessary technology for unmanned airships to cooperate with drones to provide a modern version of the "Akron" class airship." The
Akron class airship was built for the US Navy in the early 1930s. A rigid airship. Designed as a reconnaissance platform, the purpose of using them is to act as the "eyes of the fleet" and expand the range of operations of the U.S. Navy reconnaissance force beyond the horizon. The U.S. Navy describes the two "Akers" on its official website. Lun’s brief service. The airship is 785 feet (231 meters) long and can fly thousands of miles at a speed of 50 knots. It also carries 89 crew members, seven machine guns and four aircraft launched and landed through a complex device. Fighter aircraft. During an exercise near Cuba in 1932, Akron, headquartered in New Jersey, "successfully spotted the light cruiser USS Raleigh and twelve destroyers, and determined their positions on the eastern horizon two minutes later.
The navigation department quoted historian Richard Smith. Considering the weather, flight time, flight trajectory of more than 3,000 miles, material defects, and the basic characteristics of air navigation at the time, Akron's performance was amazing, Smith wrote. He said: "In 1932, no military aircraft in the world could have such a performance. Z1z
Mizokami wrote, but Akron crashed in 1933, killing 73 people. The sister ship Macon crashed in 1935, and two people Lost. The Navy abandoned airships and switched to carrier-based aircraft carriers. However, the Navy should reconsider this concept. Z1z
High-altitude airships equipped with sensors and network capabilities can reach their destinations faster than maritime aircraft carriers, and can stay at the space station for several times Days or weeks. Airships can carry dozens of drones, each of which is equipped with radar, optoelectronics and other sensors to expand the range of sensors on the mothership and surface fleet. These drones can carry a variety of weapons, Used to fight ships, submarines, helicopters and other poorly performing aircraft and land targets. The
attack airship will not replace traditional surface warships, but will enhance their combat effectiveness. Provides a new distributed lethality for the fleet , And provide support for marines and ground soldiers. The airship can scan in large areas of ocean that the enemy is unlikely to touch, but friendly sensors will be useful with the support of weapons. The escort will gain improved situational awareness Capabilities and airborne anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
In recent years, the Pentagon has conducted tests on airships for cargo and surveillance missions. Several prototype airships have flown into the sky, but none of them can bring major acquisition plans. In 2005, the Navy Purchased an American small airship A-170. The MZ-3A is 178 feet (54 meters) long and has a maximum flight speed of about 40 knots. The
Navy airship is testing various sensors with test squadrons in New Jersey and Maryland. Naval Aviation System Command spokesperson Doug Abbott explained that the airship provides a faster and more consistent development path than is usually possible in fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft. The airship also expands the possibility of developing large multi-dimensional apertures/arrays. This is not practically possible with any other airborne technology.
In 2010, the airship was deployed to Alabama to assist in the cleanup work after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. According to Asbury Park Press in New Jersey Newspaper, from 2006 to 2012, the collection of MZ-3The purchase and operation cost the Navy $3.6 million. The
Navy grounded the MZ-3A in 2013. In an interview with Asbury Park Press, Abbott said: "The airship is frustrating." "This is not to say that we lack funds. We lack missions. The Navy turned to invest in high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, F-35B jets. Type aircraft and other vertical launch aircraft that can fly from a variety of amphibious ships.
Mizokami is not intimidated by his claims. In the past 100 years, naval aviation has witnessed the coming and going of experimental concepts. Some fighters, For example, fighter jets launched at sea cannot return. Other aircraft carriers, such as airships, may return in new ways. Despite the cost issue, the future of aircraft carriers seems quite safe, but the future fleet will almost certainly interact with others in new and innovative ways. The platforms that project air force power will sail together.
The author also believes that with the development of drone technology, it will be sooner or later that flying motherships will reappear. Because the drones are loaded, there is no need to consider personnel safety issues, and the airship itself has advantages , This is unmatched by other aircraft, the airship version of the flying aircraft carrier reconstruction is only a matter of time. (Mi Tan Tianxia / Zhang Mi)
