Stealth C-130

"Meet the Speed Agile. If the USAF is allowed to spend big money on a super-STOL C-130 replacement after 2020, this is Lockheed's idea for what it should look like. Boeing is also working on an alternative concept. The Air Force Research Laboratory has been funding both Lockheed and Boeing to work on wind tunnel models."

www.flightglobal.com...

If they go ahead with this I would love it, it looks badass!

Here is a pic of Lockheed's concept.

reply to post by Laxpla


That is really cool. But it looks smaller than the C-130 and I am not sure how stealth mixes with the jobs that C-130s are called to perform; transport, LAPES, dropping crazy paratroopers on some poor unsuspecting country, etc.

Please enlighten me.

reply to post by Frater210


With a low radar profile stealth version of the C130 you could drop entire battalions in on some unsuspecting 3rd worlder or since the C130 is also one plane that can drop the MOAB think about this thing stealthing its' way into your capital and dropping that monster bomb on your door step.

reply to post by Frater210


The link said it was a 23% scale model, that is why it is small. I would either think if a few were made, it would be for special op missions. If they make many of them, for a denied territory when you need to get supplies/people on the ground where stealth is a bonus.

If the USAF is allowed to spend big money on a super-STOL C-130 replacement after 2020, ...

And so ends the tragic story of the C-130 replacement....

I don't see the point of pouring that kind of money into a stealth airframe for the transport role. It's a neat idea. They may even get a concept demonstrator up, but the money doesn't make sense.


Some other concepts, as well:
www.aviationweek.com... 9a7&plckPostId=Blog%3A27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3A4ed2785f-832c-4f7f-8a7b-1d820cb2b07a

That first pic smacks of a scramjet design I saw a few years ago.

Maybe the USAF are planning to make a plane that will whip the ole SR-71 Blackbird in terms of speed.

S&F

Thanks, fellows. I suppose I do see the usefulness. That would be a hell of a ride down to nap of the earth.

Yeeehah!

Fancy that when in scratchy time did they get the blue prints for that

They would be better off to simply use the lessons learned from flying wings and lifting bodies and forego the whole 'stealth' idea. Radars, today, are sophisticated enough to pull relevant returns out of absolute chaos. The cost/effectiveness is going to go right out the window with a "stealth cargo" aircraft - with the overwhelming majority of its missions not benefiting from Low Observable technologies.

Here is a previous thread by Intelgurl, always love her threads.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Stating that the need for a Special Ops airlifter

www.defensenews.com...

Looks pretty cool to me, kind of reminds me of the drop ship the colonial marines use in aliens!!
Sweet!

Thanx for the info OP. Just booking mah seat so I can come back. Keep em coming.


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

Man... I came up with a similar concept about 6 years ago for a semi-stealth lifting body cargo plane. I still have one of the drawings right here:



That sucks nuggets. Looks like I missed out.

reply to post by allenidaho


Thats a nice design man!
Is that a hobby or do you do similar for a living??

Awesome concept but I feel its unneccesary. With the trillions of dollars in unaccounted for defense spending, the government should have a satelitte capable of shooting a laser torpedo up the ass of anybody on this planet.

reply to post by Laxpla


That is too damn cool. I like the design, concept and application.

What I'm waiting for is the Stealth Gunship version of this prototype. That will be a whole new level of awesomeness. The AC-130 Spectre Gunship is already a favorite of many, including yours truly. Imagine a stealth gunship.

thats awesome! Looks like spooky just got spookier. C-130's do a lot of support for ground troops. especially SOG guys in places like afghanistan. Having one be stealthed out to the max would make it even harder for the bad guys to shoot at it. Especially if they make it so the incoming mortar rounds are hard to see too. Doom on you. Sweet.

Any discussion of any aerospace super-duper craft should never stray far away from what we know as real hardware. And that is described in a couple of words: "Black triangles."

If you cannot encompass the evidence for these craft--I have seen one moving low, slow and silently, then you have no valid argument for any advanced, yet typical, form of jet aircraft or rocket spacecraft that flows from the conventional aerospace industrial sources.

Definitely looks like a cool aircraft, but I seriously doubt it will look much like the model if they do decide to go ahead with a replacement for the C-130.

Originally posted by _Del_
I don't see the point of pouring that kind of money into a stealth airframe for the transport role. It's a neat idea. They may even get a concept demonstrator up, but the money doesn't make sense.

From 1991 forward all the various military of the world have moved towards stealth. For an analogy about it being useless. Painting vehicles the appropriate camouflage for the area of operations doesn't really do much against detection by electronic means. yet, it's still done. So even though "Stealth" is being perceived as "obsolete" by some it is the way pretty much all new designs are headed.

If just one Stealth C-130 survives it's mission due to it's stealth design then it was money well spent. Lastly, the more projects employing stealth the cheaper and more cost effective it becomes in the long run with various new developments and advancements being discovered along the way...


Win-Win