To say the Boeing 747 changed the aviation industry is a massive understatement. Over twice the size of any airliner before it, the queen of the skies completely transformed commercial aviation, unlocking air travel for the middle class. After half a century in the air, the jumbo liner’s service in the commercial space has finally reached its twilight era, with only a handful of airlines and shipping companies still operating the beast.
But with the plane serving as Air Force One, and being modified into a “doomsday” control center for nuclear war, the 747 still has plenty of life with the U.S. military. Past proposals have hoped to expand the plane’s utility within the Air Force, with hopes for transforming the jet into a refueling tanker, a cruise missile platform, and even a missile defense platform, with a massive laser attached to its nose.
There is one concept for the 747, however, that truly stands out unlike any other. Declassified Boeing/U.S. Air Force documents show studies to transform the airliner into an aircraft carrier in the skies. The Airborne Aircraft Carrier might seem like a concept straight out of Hollywood, but Boeing believed that if executed right, their 747 could bring air superiority to anywhere in the globe in a matter of hours.
Meet the Airborne Aircraft Carrier
This wasn’t the first time the concept of a flying carrier had been toyed with. Back in the 1940s, B-36 bombers tried to deploy a wing of escort fighters, with plans of carrying up to three purpose-built XF-85 Goblins. But these “parasite fighters” struggled to dock with the mothership due to the turbulent air the B-36 generated, with one pilot smashing his canopy in during an attempt. The cons seemed to vastly outweigh the pros, and the project was canceled in 1949.
So why did the Air Force pick the pen up again in 1973? The era’s newest aircraft, such as the 747 and Lockheed’s C-5 cargo plane, introduced new capabilities. Where older prototypes simply held the aircraft, jumbo jets had the space to refuel and rearm onboard fighters, becoming a carrier for the skies.
Boeing’s 1973 study showed that the pressurized fuselage could internally store up to 10 microfighters. Boom arms would move the fighter into one of two deployment airlocks and could launch the fighter out of its belly. With pilots on standby, Boeing predicted that two microfighters could go from storage to the sky in about 80 seconds. “Landing” would be the reversal of the process, with crews able to rearm and refuel the craft in 10 minutes.
Even with 10 fighters onboard, Boeing found space to store fuel, armaments and spare parts, as well as having sleeping quarters and a lounge. It would hold 44 crew members: 12 carrier crew, 14 pilots, and 18 mission specialists.
So … what happened?
Boeing proved that a modern flying carrier was possible, but the Air Force never pulled the trigger on the design, and the Airborne Aircraft Carrier never made it beyond the 74-page study. There wasn’t a doubt the 747 was capable of carrying 10 fighters, but the capabilities of the onboard air wing had the Air Force concerned. Boeing promised these microfighters to at least match the performance of the Soviet MiG-21. But the Air Force watched how quickly war zones evolved throughout the ’60s and ’70s, and knew these little planes would likely be run over by the newer 4th-gen fighters on the way.
For those of you still hoping for a flying carrier, it’s more than likely that we’ll see one in service in the near future. DARPA’s Gremlins project aims to transform C-130s into flying carriers, able to deploy swarms of unmanned drones. For the Ace Combat fans, think less P-1112 Aigion and more Arsenal Bird.