Motherships: The Air Force Wants Its Cargo Planes to Be Drone Carriers
In the near-future, C-130 or C-17 cargo planes could carry drones into battle and get recover and refueld and rearm them.
Many weapons developers think of Air Force cargo planes such as C-17s and C-130 as primarily transport platforms able to deliver supplies, weapons and forces engaged in forward positioned combat operations. However, the service is increasingly considering also using these kinds of aircraft for actual attacks instead of just cargo transport.
There have been several interesting innovations, now at various stages of development, including efforts to arm cargo planes with bombs and operate them as aerial drone “motherships” able to launch and recover drones in high-threat combat circumstances.
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