In the past 20 years, the only newly developed mass-produced transport aircraft in the world may be China's Y-20.
Other main transport aircraft, such as the C5, An-124, and Il-76, are old models from many years ago, and even the US C17 is no longer a new aircraft.
Recently, the United States signed a new contract worth $8.3 million with Aurora Company to continue designing heavy seaplane transport aircraft. It is expected to be similar in size to the C17 transport aircraft and larger than China's AG600 seaplane, becoming the largest seaplane in the world.
So why is the United States developing seaplanes?
This plan was proposed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the United States.
In February of last year, DARPA selected Aurora Company and General Atomics to participate in the project, initially planning to develop a new aircraft similar to the C17.
However, the plan changed later, and the military decided to develop a medium-sized aircraft similar to the C130 transport aircraft, with a payload of about 20 tons.
This year, the United States believes that this plan is still feasible and has enlarged the new aircraft to the size of the C17.
Traditional transport aircraft have high requirements for landing and takeoff sites, especially civilian cargo aircraft, which can only take off and land on long and hard runways.
Military transport aircraft usually consider field takeoff and landing, such as the C17, Y-20, and Il-76, which can take off and land on simple runways.
However, seaplanes have better adaptability. As long as there is a wide enough water surface, they can take off and land normally, and even take off and land in poor sea conditions.
Aurora Company adopts a relatively traditional design with a single fuselage and a straight wing. There are 8 turboprop engines on the wing, and pontoons are also installed on the wingtips.
The tail design is relatively complex, including two inclined V-shaped vertical tails and a horizontal tail located at the top.
In addition, a large cargo door is designed at the tail, similar to ordinary transport aircraft.
General Atomics' design is more exaggerated, using a twin-fuselage design similar to stratospheric launches, with a very large wing area and cargo doors designed at the nose.
However, General Atomics' design is obviously more complex and has higher manufacturing costs, so it may be abandoned.
Due to the takeoff and landing characteristics of seaplanes, they can quickly transport troops or even armored vehicles to disputed areas.
In addition, due to their larger payload and faster speed, the actual response speed of seaplanes may be faster than that of ordinary military transport aircraft, as military transport aircraft need to select suitable airports.
In addition, these seaplanes can also be used for disaster relief, special operations, refueling, reconnaissance, and other specialized purposes.
Large seaplanes are also part of the United States' high-end warfare, so their actual uses are obviously aimed at China.
According to the current plan of the United States, the maiden flight of the new seaplane is expected to be around 2028, considering the delay in recent years due to military expenditure and other reasons, it may be delayed to around 2030.
China's AG600 seaplane is currently quite mature, but due to its limited tonnage, China's long coastline and sea area require a larger and more advanced seaplane to perform multiple tasks.
Therefore, the AG600 may only solve the current urgent needs, and building larger tonnage seaplanes is a long-term plan for the future.
Therefore, in recent years, the importance of seaplanes, a relatively old and niche aircraft, has significantly increased, which can also be seen as a return of history.
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