FutureWarTHINK 012: USAF, Boeing & FEDEX "Discover" Shipping Container Planes aka BATTLEBOXes...

"Time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted. Terrain I can recover, TIME, never". 

--Field Marshal Napoleon

Civilian normies and milbureaucrats have "discovered" shipping containers--thanks to innovative PRIVATE defense companies doing their homework. Better late than never?

TIME is LIFE

How about an aircraft that carries U.S. ARMY, pre-loaded BATTLEBOXes picks up and DROPS THEM as LTG Gavin's KIWI Pods proposed?

GMTA. Looks like 1LT Mike Sparks and his 1st TSG (A) team is RIGHT--again, civilian normie losertards and milsheeple do-nothings eat your status-quo-flavored Luddite crow...... 

https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a18929/boeing-patents-cargo-plane-move-shipping-containers/

Boeing Designed a Strange Plane That Would Suck Up Shipping Containers
It would roll right over them, squat down, and lock them in place. 

BY JAY BENNETT
JAN 11, 2016

Boeing received a patent last month for a unique airplane design that would lower onto shipping containers and then lock them into place. The strange-looking design has landing gear that is wider than the shipping containers and a large fuselage that opens underneath the plane for the containers to slot into.

Existing cargo planes don't use the standardized intermodal shipping containers that you see on cargo ships and trains. Instead, air freight is transported using the unit load device (ULD) system, which packs cargo into smaller containers and onto pallets for transport on both cargo planes and standard passenger aircraft. Boeing's design would not only allow a plane to carry more cargo, but would also transport air freight in the standardized containers to streamline the shipping process.

The intermodal containers may be loaded through an opening in the bottom of the fuselage. Specifically, intermodal containers may be arranged into a row. The aircraft may be then rolled over this row of the containers and lowered onto the containers followed by engaging container corners.

Patent Yogi has a great—if a little peculiar—animated video of what Boeing's [Burnelli-style Blended Wing Body (BWB) ] plane might look like in action, if it ever existed:

Boeing patented a special aircraft to carry containers for quicker deliveries

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaNSaRTglBc

As with many ambitious patents, it is likely that Boeing is simply securing priority of an idea just in case they ever decide to act on it. A plane that can lower its entire body and lift more than a dozen shipping containers would require a lot of testing and design work to actually accomplish. Still, it's a cool idea, and maybe the aerospace giant can pull it off.

Source: Patent Yogi


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Deja Vu, GMTA, Again! 1LT Mike Sparks proven RIGHT--AGAIN. Surprised, civilian normie and milsheeple status quo loving fangirls?

https://www.fliegerfaust.com/military-news--2645439243.html
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a31263609/air-force-shipping-containers/

The Air Force’s New Weapon Is…Shipping Containers?

The USAF could sprinkle potential battlefields and hotspots with shipping containers years in advance, each hiding a lethal drone.

BY KYLE MIZOKAMI
MAR 8, 2020

The U.S. Air Force is considering a pitch by a defense contractor to deploy armed drones in shipping containers.

The drones, XQ-58 Valkyries, are short takeoff drones with performance nearing that of a fighter jet.

In the event of war the Air Force could launch swarms of drones from the containers to overwhelm an enemy.

The U.S. Air Force wants the ability to deploy hundreds of drones across a future theater of war, storing them in shipping containers until the moment they are needed. Drone maker Kratos Defense is proposing inserting its new XQ-58A Valkyrie drone in a modified shipping container, which would then be shipped or flown to small islands in the Pacific. In the event of war, the drones could be quickly readied for action, flying long range missions deep into enemy territory while armed with precision guided bombs and air-to-air missiles.

The concept, proposed by Kratos Defense, calls for fitting a XQ-58A Valkyrie into a standard sized shipping container. The XQ-58A is considered “runway independent”, meaning it does not need long runways for takeoffs and landings. Kratos has long built target drones that are launched from a short, skyward-pointed rail, using rocket boosters to get airborne. Once in the air, the drone’s turbofan engine takes over and the drone goes on its way. [EDITOR: like ZEL]

Kratos thinks the XQ-58A, rocket boosters, and launcher rail could all fit inside a shipping container. In the event of a crisis with China, the Air Force could deploy the shipping containers to small islands in the Pacific, either by ship or C-130J Super Hercules transport. A small number of Air Force personnel would also deploy with the containers.

The XQ-58A Valkyrie is one of a new generation of drones with near-fighter jet capabilities. The drone is 30 feet long with a 27 foot wingspan, has a top speed of Mach .95, and can carry up to two 250 pound GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs. [EDITOR: Precision Directed Munition aka PDM]

If war starts, it would take the airmen a “very small number of hours,” according to a Kratos official quoted at Flightglobal, to prepare the drone for action. The airmen could load the drone with a pair of GBU-39s or even small air-to-air missiles, attach the wings (the drone won’t fit in the shipping container with wings attached), and wait for the signal to fire. The process would be repeated at secret locations throughout the region, with scores or even hundreds of drones made ready to fight.

One of the XQ-58A’s best features is its 3,000 nautical-mile range. Valkyries stored on the U.S. territory of Guam, for example, could easily reach Hong Kong, Shanghai, and even Beijing. Drones stored even closer to China could range even deeper into the country. Meanwhile, U.S. aircraft carriers, land attack cruise missiles, and strategic bombers would conduct attacks on Chinese military targets. The XQ-58A’s long range means that in any future war Chinese military leaders would face the prospect of not only fighting in the Pacific but also protecting Chinese airspace from armed, long range drones.

The Air Force, as Flightglobal points out, appears interested in the concept. The site notes General C.Q. Brown, recently nominated to be the next head of the Air Force, said in 2019, “If a 20-foot container can actually contain some type of weapon system and I have 1,000 20-foot containers spread throughout the region, as an adversary, which one is the one that actually has the capability? Which one is just empty?”

The Kratos drone container concept is pretty cheap: each drone is projected to cost just $2-3 million, with the shipping container/launcher costing an eighth to a tenth of that. By comparison, a F-35A Joint Strike Fighter costs about $90 million. As retired marine corps Colonel T.X. Hammes points out in another piece on Flightglobal, the total lifetime cost of a F-35A is about $352 million. A drone like the XQ-58A can’t replace the F-35, but it can offer unique capabilities that would complement the manned jet—for a lot less money.

Source: Flightglobal

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TIME is MONEY. 

The problem with ISO shipping containers is they are HEAVY in order to stack up to 8 high on a SHIP that doesn't have to pinch pennies or pounds like aircraft do. Tare aka empty weight of even an aluminum 20 foot ISO container is 5, 000 pounds. FEDEX can't afford this weight and is buying 100 x twin-engined, Cessna-Textron SkyCouriers that can carry 3x lightweight, pre-loaded, air-only LD3 containers.

https://cessna.txtav.com/en/turboprop/skycourier

The Cessna SkyCourier aircraft has two configurations to best suit your business needs ranging from a 19-passenger configuration to a freight configuration carrying three LD3 shipping containers. The single-point pressure refueling capability coupled with rugged landing gear for use on unimproved strips means the Cessna SkyCourier turboprop gets you wherever you need to be faster.

https://cessna.txtav.com/en/turboprop/skycourier#specs

DIMENSIONS

Length 54 ft 10 in (16.71 m)
Height 21 ft 0 in (6.40 m)
Wingspan 72 ft (21.95 m) [EDITOR: wings need to FOLD for ground mobility to avoid being DOTG at obvious FOBs

CABIN

Maximum Passengers 19 [EDITOR: how many Paratroops?]

WEIGHTS

Maximum Payload (Passenger) 5,000 lb (2,268 kg)
Maximum Payload (Freighter) 6,000 lb (2,722 kg)

PERFORMANCE

Takeoff Field Length 3,300 ft (1,006 m) [EDITOR: BAD. Need eSTOL less than 300 feet; at least under 1, 000 feet like CV-2 Caribous/C-27J Spartans]

Maximum Cruise Speed 200 ktas (370 km/h)
Maximum Range 900 nm (1,667 km)
Cargo Range (with 5,000 lb payload) 400 nm (741 km)
Service Ceiling 25,000 ft (7,620 m)

POWERPLANT

Manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Canada
Model PT6A-65SC
Power Rating 1,100 shp (820kW)
Propeller Manufacturer McCauley
Description Blackmac 4-blade aluminum, auto feathering, reverse

* Performance data is based on standard conditions with zero wind. Field performance assumes a level, hard surface, dry runway. Max Range and Cargo Range assume Long Range Cruise at 10,000 ft and NBAA IFR reserves. Cargo Range also assumes cargo configuration. All data preliminary and subject to change.

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Possible USMIL applications of the Cessna-Textron 408 SkyCourier--essentially, a FAT Twin Otter (re: seaplane version in 007 movie, "Casino Royale", used to land/survey DESERT ONE assault landing zone in Iran in 1980)--are saving TIME by pre-loaded air containers that should be loadable/unloadable by small forklifts on the end of bulldozer blades of selected, M113A4 Super Gavin, light tracked tanks of light Dragoon units. 

eSTOL performance of the C-408 would have to be improved to under 300 feet aka football fields like Twin Otters. 

SAFETY is a concern with horizontally spread-apart twins. Our friend, legendary aerospace engineer, Dr. Paul Czysz didn't seem to mind their dismal asymmetric thrust instability/crash problems; I do. Ideally, I want a P-38X like push/pull lay-out for inline thrust even if one engine conks out--but this means an entirely new airplane. I want a 3rd engine in the nose of the SkyCourier to mitigate against engine-out, fatal flip-over crashes. Like the well-performed, Italian 3-engined bombers and the legendary Ju-52 "Iron Annie" (star of "Where Eagles Dare").

STEALTH with the C-408 is better than the flying windmill V-22 tilt-retard so it could be flown low, NOE to radar mask. Is it stealthy enough for LITTLE SPECIAL ARMY who needs to infil/exfil deep behind enemy lines. 87" x 69" side cargo door must be able to open in flight for parachute insertions. A small stealthy, non-metallic glider could be created to be towed by the C-408 and released from a covert stand-off point---large enough to carry a 5-ton German Wiesel 2 light tracked tankette & 6-man half of an A-Team or 19D Scout Team?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR51NY8NDE4&t=142s

The slow, fragile, overly-complex & expensive helicopter delivering mere foot-slogger victims is a monumental waste of time, effort and lives. CH-53K King Stallions RO-RO delivering M113A4 Super Gavin Fighting Vehicles and AmphiGavin Amphibious Fighting Vehicles is worthwhile albeit slower-than-fixed wing transports. CH-47D/F/Gs can also air-mech Bv206s and/or Wiesel 2 light tracked, armored tankettes--IF we buy them. Buying ground vehicles that FIT into Chinooks is cheaper than buying bigger aircraft. How many Koh Tangs & Blackhawk Downs! must we suffer before we CHANGE and use tilt-WING VTOL aircraft and stealth gliders to covertly deploy LIGHT MECHANIZED Paras & Commandos--MECHANDOS that DOMINATE firefights with overmatching firepower and armored maneuver SHOCK ACTION?

KIWI Pod aircraft like the new Boeing BWB concept can make the U.S. ARMY "get-the-lead-out" as my WW2 "Greatest Generation" Okinawa combat veteran dad used to say--every unit can have its BATTLEBOXes pre-loaded and ready-to-fight. The Army's Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore (JLOTS) Command should buy the Boeing BWB container aircraft if the USAF continues to refuse to do its damn job. The smaller, proposed tri-engined, Cessna-Textron 408 SkyCourier could speed Army JLOTS logistics with small LD3 containers and tow/stand-off release, a stealth glider with a Wiesel 2 and 6 MECHANDOs inside.  
  
Airborne!

James Bond is REAL.