Helicarrier
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America's mad science division wants to build a flying drone base
DARPA's mission is to look at insane concepts from science fiction and ask if they'd work in real life, and it's clear that the agency's staffers have recently gone back to playing StarCraft. Drones, you see, are small and don't require a pilot, but can't quickly cover long distances like a manned fighter jet. Imagine then, a flying airbase that could drop a legion of drones close to their target and swoop them up in a manner similar to the Protoss Carrier from the aforementioned video game. That's the project that DARPA is hoping you'll all help out on, and has put out a request for information from anyone with the technical, security and business brains to help bring the concept into reality. For now, the request envisages using a large bomber plane as the carrier, like a B-52 or C-130, but it's entirely plausible that as technology marches on, floating platforms could become involved. Oh, and before you ask, we have already sent the agency the footage of both Flite Test's homemade helicarrier and a copy of The Avengers on DVD.
Watch a drone take off from a flying aircraft carrier
The Avengers would be proud. Not content with simply flying drones, enthusiasts at Flite Test have built a remote-controlled helicarrier that can serve as a runway for smaller unmanned aircraft -- yes, it's a drone launching other drones. The example you see in the brief video below is crude and won't handle more than modestly-sized vehicles, but it's enough to show that the concept works. It's easy to see well-heeled hobbyists (and the military, for that matter) refining the concept to boost the maximum altitudes and ranges of robotic vehicles that would normally have to take off from terra firma.
