DARPA begins competitive development of the Liberty Lifter ekranoplan

WIG variant from GA-ASI

The Pentagon has been showing interest in ekranoplans for a long time and is conducting some research in this area. A few months ago, it was decided to create such a vehicle with an eye on real operation in the distant future. The ekranoplan development program was called the Liberty Lifter and is being implemented under the leadership of the DARPA agency.

In the early stages

The Liberty Lifter program launched in May 2022 at the initiative of the Pentagon. By this time, its main goals and objectives were determined, and some technical requirements were also formed. In the near future, DARPA planned to collect applications and proposals from potential participants. Over the next few months, the most successful concepts for further development were to be determined.

As reported, the goal of the Liberty Lifter program is to create a military transport ekranoplan with a high payload and high flight characteristics. With its help, in the future it is planned to transfer various cargoes at the tactical and strategic level. Depending on the situation and situation, the ekranoplan will complement or replace aircraft and ships.

The aircraft will take off from the water, carry out high-speed flight at low altitude and perform landing on the water. Such principles of operation, in theory, allow you to gain advantages over other vehicles. Thus, the ekranoplan is much faster than any surface vessel, and military transport aircraft of traditional design lose to it in theoretical carrying capacity and have limitations in basing. Also, the ekranoplan will be able to supplement the existing landing craft of the Marine Corps.

Competition project from Aurora Flight Science

In May, the first phase of the Liberty Lifter program was launched. Its purpose was to search for technical proposals and preliminary study of projects. It was also planned to determine the possible level of performance characteristics achievable using available technologies.

There are several additional requirements for the ekranoplan. So, an aircraft may have an unusual design, but it should be simplified as much as possible. Also, only accessible components and assemblies should be used. Designing complex systems and assemblies from scratch or applying overly complex concepts is not recommended.

It is necessary to obtain high flight performance. Thus, a high resistance of the aircraft to waves is required, both in takeoff and landing modes and in flight. The flight must be carried out over water and at altitudes up to 10 thousand feet (3 km). The ekranoplan should be able to operate for a long time (up to several weeks) at sea without full maintenance. The issue of navigation and safe driving in navigable areas will be worked out to prevent collisions or other incidents.

Competitive stage

According to known data, several American companies, mainly from the aircraft industry, responded to the invitation of the DARPA agency. By the end of last year, the agency began analyzing technical proposals and has now chosen the most successful ones. The winners of the first stage of the program were announced on February 1.

Two presented projects will be further developed. The first was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. in collaboration with Maritime Applied Physics Corporation, and the second is offered by Aurora Flight Sciences, which has joined forces with Gibbs & Cox and ReconCraft. Two teams receive contracts for further work.

Ekranoplan from GA-ASI lands troops

The new agreements establish a work plan for the next 18 months. In the next 6 months participants in the program will further develop their concepts. Then 9 months. allocated to full technical design. Another three months are given to prepare the production of experimental equipment and plan subsequent tests.

All of these activities should be completed by the fall of 2024. DARPA will then review the submitted materials and select the winner of the program. He will receive a major contract to complete the design, construction and testing of experimental equipment. The timing of the completion of these works can not yet be called.

Several other organizations and Pentagon structures are expected to join the Liberty Lifter program after the winner is selected. In addition, the program may attract the attention of US foreign partners interested in obtaining a fundamentally new transport. Probably, the project will be completed by joint efforts.

Two options

General Atomics and Aurora have already shown the approximate appearance of the ekranoplanes being developed and some of their capabilities. The exact level of design characteristics is still unknown - probably due to the insufficient degree of project development. Nevertheless, the published materials also make it possible to understand how the two development teams intend to solve the set technical problems.

GA-ASI offers an ekranoplan of an unusual appearance. It is proposed to equip it with two fuselages connected by a low-lying large-span wing and empennage with an upper stabilizer. Both fuselages must accommodate large cargo compartments with front entry - the nose cones fold up. The power plant is proposed to be composed of 10-12 turboprop engines on pylons above the wing.

Aurora Flight Science offers a more familiar layout and architecture. Her ekranoplan Liberty Lifter is actually a large "flying boat" with one fuselage. It has a high-lying wing with inclined consoles and vertical tips. Under the planes on the pylons placed four turbojet engines. Despite the "airplane" appearance, such an ekranoplan is optimized specifically for low-altitude flight.

It is noted that both concepts are similar in size to the serial C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft. This means that the wingspan is in the range of 50-52 m, and the total length does not exceed 53-55 m. Also, the estimated carrying capacity of ekranoplans is compared with the C-17. The aircraft is capable of carrying 77,5 tons of cargo - people, equipment, property on pallets, etc. Similar opportunities should be given to technicians from GA-ASI and Aurora.

Technical tasks

The Pentagon is seriously interested in the subject of ekranoplans and even launched a full-fledged program aimed at conducting the necessary research and designing equipment. Over the next one and a half to two years, it will give the first results, as well as show its potential for further development. At the same time, a decision will be made on the need to continue work - or to close the program.

Assembly of structural elements for preliminary tests

The Pentagon's interest in the concept of ekranoplanes is quite understandable. Research and practical experience, incl. foreign, primarily Soviet / Russian, show that such equipment has certain advantages over vehicles of other classes. An aircraft flying at a low altitude above the water, according to one or another indicator, bypasses both sea vessels and full-fledged transport aircraft.

At the same time, the ekranoplan has its own specific features, and its creation is not an easy task. Because of this, the participants in the Liberty Lifter program were faced with several difficult tasks, which in general boil down to creating a design with the optimal combination of various characteristics. So, the ekranoplan should be roomy, but at the same time fit into the calculated weight restrictions. With all this, it must be resistant to waves and splashes. Finally, high speed characteristics and the ability to fly at high altitude are required of it.

The companies participating in the program have already proposed their own versions of such an aircraft, and their projects are radically different from each other. One of them uses the traditional layout of the aircraft, while the other uses an unusual architecture with two fuselages. Both versions of the ekranoplan should have certain advantages - but disadvantages or limitations are not excluded. Apparently, the same will be the case with other features of the projects.

Plans for the future

In recent months, the DARPA program to develop the Liberty Lifter ekranoplan has passed the first stage of searching and considering preliminary technical proposals. Now the circle of its participants has been determined, and they will have to develop full-fledged projects. In the second half of 2024, the customer will compare them and choose the best one.

This project will be developed and may even reach the construction and testing of a prototype. With a favorable development of events, the tests will be followed by an order for full-fledged production and the gradual introduction of a new ekranoplan in the troops. However, another scenario cannot yet be ruled out. Having studied two projects, the customer may be disappointed in the whole direction and stop the development of new ekranoplanes. How exactly events will develop will become known only in a year and a half.

Comments

[Mikhail Ivanov]

The main problem of the ekranoplan is expensive maintenance. It was for this reason that the Soviet leadership refused them at one time. Although the device does have a number of advantages. The history of the creation of such a technique is interesting. The development was carried out by Israel, the USA and Russia. Jews and mattresses could not create anything, they informed customers that such a device would not fly and the programs were closed. And the Soviet engineer Alekseev created his own design bureau in Nizhny Novgorod, which produced a number of ships of this class. The most famous "Caspian Monster" greatly frightened the West at one time ... And today its hydrofoil ships carry tourists, for example, in St. Petersburg.
It’s not a fact that overseas they will be able to create something really flying this time ...

[alekc75]

are you sure it won't? time does not stand still! materials have changed, new engines have appeared and there are still good heads in the country !! so we can do if the order is!

[Civil]

I was born and lived in a country where it ALREADY existed and worked, but then the bourgeois returned and we again became poor and backward ...

[SergioCDS]

... - but he did not read the article (https://news.rambler.ru/troops/41757952-ekranoplan-lun-pochemu-sovetskiy-ubiytsa-avianostsev-ne-poshel-v-seriyu/), and earlier ones. And I don’t know that decommissioned "engines" were used on experimental machines. And that for ANY AUG "Lun" is still worse than THIS NIGHTMARE. A: - "... "Eaglet" could transfer amphibious assaults in the amount of up to 200 fully armed marines or two armored tracked vehicles at speeds up to 400 km / h over a distance of up to 1500 km. It would be ideal for surprise commando raids '.'
... - And if they are recreated using modern materials and weapons ... - AUGs turn into VERY EXPENSIVE scrap metal. Any "blockade" of the crossroads with the help of the AUG - not just in the "Feast of Victory" - but in the "queen", which is "eaten" by the "pawn" ...

[Ruyter-57]

As always - the first comment is usually written by an ignoramus.

The development was carried out by Israel, the USA and Russia.

Israel has never dealt with ekranoplanes. Ekranoplans were engaged in the USA, Germany, France, the USSR, Australia, Japan, China, Taiwan, Iran.

Jews and mattresses could not create anything, they informed customers that such a device would not fly and the programs were closed

We have already found out about the Jews. As for the USA, Mikhail-Ivanov, to put it mildly, is mistaken, since Alexander Lippish worked in the USA in the 60s. And ekranoplanes flew in the USA already in 1963.

Ekranoplan Lippisch Collins X-112. 1963
Next Singaporean AirFish 8 WIG Craft.

Some Ivanovs will not understand in any way that for a normal economy the main thing is not "analogue", but demand.

[solar]

Strictly speaking, this is an ekranoplan, not an ekranoplan.
An ekranoplan is a watercraft based on the screen effect - a type of air cushion (sometimes with the ability to rise into the air to a small height for a short time).
An ekranolet is an aircraft that, in addition to the usual flight at altitude, can move for a sufficiently long time using the screen effect.
The Americans want to make ekranolet.

[Kolin]

Project "Rip".
Gorgeous (c) Eric Cartman and the mattress VPK.

[Vashek]

The PRC has been flying for a long time. The guys from the Alekseevsky Design Bureau went there. Moreover, the combat one is a surface torpedo.

[Vladimir Dmitrievich Burtsev]

DARPA copied my idea of ​​an ekranoleta with two fuselages from the Internet. But the version of the Americans is not entirely successful, I will not reveal why. Our people like to copy everything foreign. Maybe now ours will take up their minds and begin to "catch up" with the Americans once again?

[pavelpavel]

There are drawings, there are principles, they will model, explore and go, that is, fly! Following the example of the processors of the late 50s, or the same "Armata", few of our developments will still be introduced in the USA! Siluanov, Nabiullina are working!

[Vladimir_2U]

Interesting information, but in my opinion a heavy military ekranoplan is more viable than an ekranoplan. And light EPs are a toy.

[prodi]

let's say, for amers, this is rational on transoceanic routes (and they will cope with technical problems), but how to ensure the safety (of oneself and others)? .. The radar will be too low, the speed will be too high, and the possibility of an emergency maneuver - no

[Vladimir_2U]

Quote: prodi

but how to ensure the safety (of oneself and others)? .. The radar will be too low, the speed will be too high, and there will be no possibility of an emergency maneuver

Radar at a height of 10 m gives a detection range of 40 km, for a speed of 500 km / h, this is more than dofiga.
What "emergency maneuver" are you talking about? All VI vessels of less than 100 tons are required to be equipped with means to increase radio visibility, firstly, and secondly, the maneuverability of the EP at 15 degrees of heel, even at 500 km / h, allows you to avoid a collision when an obstacle is detected from 5 km. This is not counting the vertical maneuver and the elementary lower flight speed.

[prodi]

well, yes, and behind one obstacle, another obstacle may turn out to be “in the target”, and then the emergency maneuver will turn into a game of checkers, and there will be one or two tanks of 60 tons each on board (due to something else, this nonsense is fenced and it makes sense No)

[Vladimir_2U]

Quote: prodi

well, yes, and behind one obstacle, another obstacle may turn out to be “in the target”, and then the emergency maneuver will turn into a game of checkers, and there will be one or two tanks of 60 tons each on board (due to something else, this nonsense is fenced and it makes sense No)

What kind of target on the high seas, you don’t confuse it with a highway? Or maybe you imagine that the EP has two modes - full forward and full stop? Have you heard of gliding?

[Mikhail Ivanov]

Quote: Ruyter-57

Israel has never dealt with ekranoplanes.

I'll throw a link here now, as he was not engaged. And on the second part, I did not claim that the mattresses were not engaged! I said they didn't do anything. And the example of single copies from enthusiasts is not a confirmation of the creation of a working apparatus, not to mention a combat model adopted for service!
We also had a bunch of projects that remained just ideas. A good example of LARS, where does it fly now?

[Mikhail Ivanov]

This is from the history of our ekranoplane programs:
In total, in the period 1977-1983, five ekranolet type "Eaglet" was built: "Double" - for static tests, S-23, S-21, S-25, S-26. All of them became part of the aviation of the Navy, and the 11th separate air group was formed on their basis.

The state program envisaged the construction of an Eaglet-type EKROTOL X-ZOOM before 24. The shipbuilding plants in Nizhny Novgorod and Theodosia were to carry out serial assembly. However, these plans were not destined to be realized. After his departure in the year 1984, Minister of Defense of the USSR Dmitry Ustinov, who oversaw high-tech weapons, all work on the production and development of this promising apparatus was curtailed. Before the 2007, the four made copies of the Orlenka were in varying degrees of misunderstanding at the Navy base in the city of Kaspiysk. In June 2007, the best-preserved specimen was towed down the Volga to Moscow and installed in a museum on the Khimki reservoir.
But there was also a center in Taganrga, which also conducted development.

[Vladimir_2U]

The "Eaglet" is a controversial machine, but the "Lun" is already a very serious device.

[Mikhail Ivanov]

In the United States, at the beginning of the 1990, specialists, having studied the experience of the USSR, came to the conclusion that the United States was significantly behind in the field of the development of ekranoplanes. The US Congress created a special commission to develop a concept and recommendations for the development of ekranoplans. In the future, the Boeing company developed the concept of an Ekranolit (the Pelikan project) for strategic redeployment of military contingents and military equipment to places of conflict. The project of the American EKR ensemble included the length of 152 m and wingspan of 106 m. When moving at an altitude of 6 m above the ocean (having the ability to rise to an altitude of 6000 m), the Pelican was supposed to carry up to 1400 tons of cargo over a distance of more than 12 thousand km.
I originally meant serial production! There was no serial production in the USA, and the created samples remained handicrafts. There were many enthusiasts in the USSR who made home-made cars, but this does not mean that they began to be produced.
Project "Pelican" from Boeing Congress hacked to death.

[Mikhail Ivanov]

According to the Jews, I admit, I mixed it up!
The rest was as I wrote:
In Russia, work began in the 60s on the initiative and under the guidance of R.E. Alekseev, immediately after he created the world-famous Rockets, Meteors, Comets. In the period from 1960 to 1985, about 10 self-propelled models were tested, heavy ekranoplanes KM (model ship), Orlyonok, Lun were created. Abroad, active attention to ekranoplans is associated with the publication of the test results of the X-112 ekranoplan by the famous German aerodynamicist A. Lippisch. Since the 60s, several dozens of experimental ekranoplans with a wide variety of aerodynamic schemes have been created and tested in various countries. However, none of the devices was put into series, as was the case, for example, with the appearance of the first SPC in the period of 1950-70s.
Link to the most detailed article on the history of the development of this type of transport:
https://olymp.as-club.ru/publ/arkhiv_rabot/devjataja_olimpiada_2012_13_uch_god/istoriko_issledovatelskaja_rabota_quot_zabytye_proekty_khkh_veka_quot/28-1-0-564

[abc_alex]

It’s strange, I don’t see here the usual crowds of specialists with splashes from their mouths proving that Alekseev was wasting people’s money, and instead of one Eaglet, it’s better to use two Il-76s. :) One such topic was drawn, and that Michael. :)

Actually, this topic is a heavy ekranoplan, in the USA it either appears or disappears for 20 years. I don’t know why it was raised again for the sake of it, and even in this form - with the ability to fly 3 km. In this mode, the car will just be a bad plane. Ljubo will cost as Spirit. And it will still be a bad plane. 3 km is not the height yet to get a decrease in drag due to the rarefied atmosphere, and the dimensions, apparently, will not be frail there.

Lun had expensive service. But there, initially, a strange scheme was chosen with a land-based base and a flooded dock. And in general, the project encountered many oddities, because being an aircraft, it was made according to ship standards, it had two anchors on board, each with a ton of heavy weight.
But then again, how to say expensive ... With what to compare. In terms of armament - 6 Mosquitoes - it was almost equal to a destroyer or BOD. I don’t think that their service was somehow cheaper :) Lun’s crew, for example, is 10 people, and BOD 1155.1 has 296. :)
The weapon equivalent in aviation is 3 Tu-22s. Also not a Zhiguli in a "shell".

Eaglet could already be based at any airfield and did not even need a conventional runway.

[Vladimir_2U]

Quote: abc_alex

Lun had expensive service. But there, initially, a strange scheme was chosen with a land-based base and a flooded dock. And in general, the project encountered many oddities, because being an aircraft, it was made according to ship standards, it had two anchors on board, each with a ton of heavy weight.

I am glad that you are not an opponent of ekranoplanes, but I am not glad that you are poorly versed in them, but this is fixable!
No "based on land" was provided for Lun, a dock for the planned detachment of ships of 10 units. and needed dosborka and repairs. And there are no oddities with the ship's strength standards, because Lun, according to the tactics of use, is a small rocket ship, which means it should have had the ability to hang out at sea on a decent wave. Autonomy of 5 days, as it were, hints at this. Although anchors per ton for a 380-ton machine are too much.

[abc_alex]

Here is Lun and here is his dock. As you can see, neither repair nor reassembly is possible on it. This is the parking lot. The dock is floating and floodable. Lun did not have a landing gear and could only go out into the surf. Or rather, how, he could go out on the screen anywhere, then he could not go back. The dock took him out to sea, where Lun took off and landed, and for maintenance and long-term parking, the dock took him ashore.
Perhaps I used the term "basing" incorrectly. Never sailor :)

Quote: Vladimir_2U

And there are no oddities with the ship's strength standards, because Lun, according to the tactics of use, is a small rocket ship, which means it should have had the ability to hang out at sea on a decent wave.

For what? Ship forced ride the wave. He just unable leave the storm zone. The wind speed during a storm is 90 km/h. The speed of the ship, it is good if 60. The storm will always catch up with the ship. AND make him hang out on the wave. Lun had a speed of up to 500 km / h, he could safely get away from the storm. It was not necessary for him to hang out on the wave at all. But you are right, yes, while making Lun, Alekseev built exactly the "flying ship", he was still a shipbuilder from the very beginning. And he had an order from the Navy and to the ship. But still, it was ridiculous. :) Moreover, the Lun kept on the wave differently from the ship, its stability was provided not by the underwater part, but by the surface. And his strength standards are not ship-based, but just ekranoplan :) Can you imagine the force of impact of the leading edge of the wing on a wave at a speed of 200 km / h? And what about the mechanical effect of these same waves on the mechanization of the wing during takeoff? There are such "pieces of iron" screwed up, not every ship has such. :)

A-90 was a much more mature solution. This is no longer a flying ship, this is already a specific aircraft, rather an airplane.

[Vladimir_2U]

Quote: abc_alex

Here is Lun and here is his dock. As you can see, neither repair nor reassembly is possible on it.

You mean impossible? A dry dock is needed for this, in order to launch a ship on it, lift it and gain access to the bottom and sides, and in the case of an EP, to the wings. And this type of dock is specially designed for delivery from the plant along the EP river, docking of the wings to the hull already at the base point, and the "wings" of the dock are undockable dock pontoons. Just in the photo, the EP is deployed for a long parking.

If this faucet is not for repair, what is it for?

Quote: abc_alex

The dock is floating and floodable.

Of course, this is the essence of the floating dock!

Quote: abc_alex

Lun did not have a landing gear and could only go out into the surf. Or rather, how, he could go out on the screen anywhere, then he could not go back.

Not a single missile boat / ship has a landing gear, and Lun did not need one, because the ship, if it is not amphibious, does not need to be thrown ashore.

Quote: abc_alex

the dock brought him ashore.

And how do you explain that Lun is standing on the deck of the DOCK, and not on the shore? And I will explain very simply - the Lun is stored on the deck of a special dock, which is also in storage, that's all. And you don't have to take a seat on the beach. By the way, where is the second dock for the second EP? There is (was) an EP, but there is no dock (and never was). Well, there are slipways that cost a penny, but allow you to pull ships up to 8000 tons ashore. And no one pulls all-aluminum civilian hydrofoils after the flight either to the dock or to the shore, maximum for repairs or wintering.
In short, parking at the dock is nonsense.

Quote: abc_alex

The ship is forced to hang on the wave. He is simply unable to leave the storm zone.

And what, in your opinion, everything that is not calm, everything is a storm? So the storm starts with 9 (7-8 meters wave) wave points. And a decent wave is 5 points (2,5-3 m) for takeoff and 6 points (3,5-4 m) for landing for the Lun-type EP. And why then do EP at all, if he is as sissy as an airplane?

Quote: abc_alex

Lun had a speed of up to 500 km / h, he could safely get away from the storm. It was not necessary for him to hang out on the wave at all.

That's exactly what is from the storm, and he needs to keep the wave for the normal service of a small missile ship - a long stay outside the base in a given area, passive long-range radio reconnaissance and escort of weapons by ships of a potential enemy.

Quote: abc_alex

Moreover, the Lun kept on the wave differently from the ship, its stability was provided not by the underwater part, but by the surface.

Come on, you would at least look at his main data, for starters - a draft of 2,5 meters! Mdaa ... Although you may think that the outrigger trimaran is a purely aviation scheme, it is not so. And the wing from the water mirror separated about a meter, if you are talking about it.

Quote: abc_alex

And his strength standards are not shipborne, but just ekranoplan

Do you know something about the strength standards for EP? Do not make me laugh, Alekseev did not know, but you know ... The thickness of the working plating is from 4 (four) to 12 mm (10 mm is already a plate) - these are ship standards for the corresponding tonnage. Aviation for An-124 superheavyweights from 0,4 (four tenths of a mm) to 9 mm at the wing root.

Quote: abc_alex

Can you imagine the impact force of the leading edge of the wing on the wave at a speed of 200 km / h? And what about the mechanical effect of these same waves on the mechanization of the wing during takeoff? There are such "pieces of iron" screwed up, not every ship has such. :)

With edge thicknesses of the same 12 mm, this is not critical - one, but two - why did you decide that these blows are mandatory? Lun's wing was a meter from the water, Lun went on planing (plus 1,5-2 m) much earlier than 200 km / h, and even blew part of the thrust under the wing and the exit to the screen could occur earlier. Takeoff for the "Lun" 5 points of excitement, landing 6 points, for the "Rescuer" (second copy) the theoretical landing is generally unlimited.
Well, look at the simple (such a term) Lun flaps, they don’t care much, but there is no other mechanization.

[Vladimir Dmitrievich Burtsev]

What darpa offers is already yesterday. I gave out my proposals for the ekranolet. If they are accepted, the US will get sick of it! It takes money to build a dream ship. And the countries of the Pacific need ekranolet. Berievites need to enter the international market. Their Be-200 is beyond competition. And then more. Next is a ship of the 22nd century, an ekranolet ...