The United States is working on a concept of a large seaplane.

The concept calls for the creation of an aircraft to provide enhanced operational capabilities, affordable production and the use of advanced aircraft control.

DARPA has launched the Liberty Lifter project to demonstrate a leap in operational logistics capabilities by designing, building, and flying a long-range, low-cost plane capable of seaborne strategic and tactical transportation.

DARPA’s new vehicle concept seeks to expand features of existing cargo aircraft by demonstrating revolutionary heavy air lift abilities from the sea (ground-effect vehicle – Ed).

The upcoming plane will combine fast and flexible strategic carriage of very large, heavy loads with the ability to take off/land in water.

Its structure will enable both highly controlled flight close to turbulent water surfaces and sustained flight at mid-altitudes. In addition, the plane will be built with a low-cost design and construction philosophy.

“This first phase of the Liberty Lifter program will define the unique seaplane’s range, payloads, and other parameters,” said Alexander Walan, a program manager in DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office. “Innovative advances envisioned by this new DARPA program will showcase an X-plane demonstrator that offers warfighters new capabilities during extended maritime operations.”

The Liberty Lifter program focuses on addressing three main challenges of existing aircraft.

Extended Maritime Operations: Emphasis will be done on operating in turbulent sea states by creating high-lift abilities at low speeds to reduce wave impact load during takeoff/landing. The aim is for the vehicle to operate at sea for weeks at a time without land-based maintenance activities.

Full-Scale Affordable Production: Construction will prioritize low-cost, easy-to-fabricate designs over exquisite, low-weight concepts. Materials should be more affordable than those in traditional aircraft manufacturing and available to be purchased in large quantities.

Complex Flight Controls: Advanced sensors and control schemes will be developed to avoid large waves and to handle aero/hydro-dynamic interactions during takeoff/landing.