Posted on 01/23/2016 5:06:41 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
The B-52 had long been one of the Air Force's key weapons, being the first aircraft to attack Baghdad during the Persian Gulf War.
But over the past two decades, half of the military's B-52s have been scrapped due to budget constraints, leading several companies to come up with suggestions for a replacement.
One of these groups was Boeing, who came up with a plan in the 1980s to turn a 747 into a launcher capable of carrying 70 cruise missiles.
The aim was to create a low-cost bomber, at 15 per cent the price of the B-2, but able to carry 50 more missiles than its predecessor.
A major benefit of the plan, according to Boeing, was that the enemy would find it difficult to separate B-747s from civilian 747s.
This would also make it flexible enough to land at civilian airports without raising alarm among nearby residents.
The plane – which remained a concept - was named the Cruise Missile Carrier Aircraft, or CMCA for short.
The design was based on the 747-200C, a cargo version of the plane, with nine launchers mounted on tracks inside of the cabin.
Each launcher would hold eight missiles that could be hidden in the rear right side of the aircraft, according to an in-depth report in Foxtrot Alpha.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3410999/Plan-turn-747-missile-launcher-revealed-Design-70-cruise-missiles-body-Boeing-aircraft.html#ixzz3y4Yw16Dy Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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Did you ever see the video of a Air Force C-5 cargo plane air launching a 60-foot long, 78,000-lb Minuteman ICBM? It was the late 1970’s or early 1980’s.
Minuteman 1 ICBM Air Launch
https://youtu.be/It7SQ546xRk
It hasnt stopped the Russians from shooting down civilian planes.
It was actually a C5 Galaxy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96A0wb1Ov9k
“It was actually a C5 Galaxy”
Your Right.I remember seeing the video of the drop and launch of the Minuteman during a commanders call in 1978/79.
That was a hell of an idea to improve on the Nuclear Triad at the time but it would have needed a lot of heavy transports.
I thought it was the back of a C5A. I know the 141 could transport one, but dropping it out the back in flight for a test? Wouldn’t they have wanted a little more wiggle room for such a test?
IFFis Identify Friend or Foe.
thanks :)
couldn’t they just lie?
or is that a stupid question?
Reminds me of that great exchange from “Hunt for Red October”
“Could you...launch an ICBM horizontally?”
“Sure. Why would you want to?”
And I recall seeing this 747-as-ALCM-platform concept in a copy of “The US War Machine” from 1977.
Most airliners airframes have been adapted to military use. KC-135 Tanker came first, then the 707. KC-10 tanker from the DC-10. 767 airframes as radar aircraft and military tankers in foreign air forces. 747 as E-4 airborne military control center. 737 as the Navy anti-submarine P-8 Poseidon. Lockheed Electra airliner as the Navy P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft. Etc.
Good Lord! i didn’t know that.
I believe -I don’t know, just a lowly civilian here - that IFF is a set of predefined transponder codes that show up on RADAR and processed by the targeting computers. Or some such.
So when our guys are in the $#!t up there, they don’t target one of their own.
fascinating. thanks.
Sounds like a plan until airliners start getting shot down.
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