Cruise Missile Carrier Airliner conversions

sferrin

sferrin

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(anybody remember this book? :) )

I use to have this book years ago and in it there was a picture of a proposed 747 cruise missile carrier. It would have had nine of those 8-round rotary launchers that could apparently move around in the aircraft as the launch position was to the rear. Does anybody have any pictures of this or similar concepts?
 

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Hey I had that book! I still see it popping up in used bookstores here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and I'll occasionally flip through it for the sake of nostalgia! For the day, it was a fabulous reference.
 
This one came out about four years later ('82 vs '78) In it they mention the CSIRS (Covert Survivable In-weather Recon Strike) which I think turned out to be the F-117. It also had a paragraph that was the first I'd ever heard of the program that lead to the F-22. It mentioned an aircraft that could cruise at Mach 1.6 without afterburner, weigh 50,000 lbs, cost $35 million, and called it the ATF.
 

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A Rand report on future bombers references The Boeing Company, "747 Air-Launched Cruise Missile
System Concept", Seattle, Wash., April 1974.

There is also a USAF(?) study somewhere on FAS on using C-17s for cruise missile launch.

RP1
 
I still have this book!...it was a very good reference for this time about the US military force at the end of the 70´s.

Raravia
 
Boeing patent No. 4,208,949 'Missile Carrier Aircraft' filed in May, 1978.
 

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Boeing patent No. 4,409,880 'Missile Stowage and launcher system' filed December 1980.
Note the unique cruise missiles shape.
 

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Boeing patent No. 4,475,436 Missile Launcher' filed April 1980.
 

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Lockheed patent No.4.040,334 'Missile Launcher For Aircraft' filed April 1976 - pretty strightforward technical solution.
 

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Occasionally, this weird image is all I have.
 

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Thanks! The picture they had in the book was basically the same as that last one but it was an orthographic side shot and in color.
 
Here is a colour version:

Regards,

Greg
 

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Gregory,

That last patent where the missile is fired through the nose (a bit like a submarine torpedo) is definitely different.

Regards,

Greg
 
GTX said:
Gregory,

That last patent where the missile is fired through the nose (a bit like a submarine torpedo) is definitely different.

Regards,

Greg
Click to expand...

Added this as Sferrin wanted similar concepts. And - thank you for posting this color picture, friend))
 
Lockheed patent No 4,256,012 'Missile launcher for aircraft' filed November 1978
 

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1). Boeing 747 as ALBM carrier
2). 4 and 6-engined 'endurance airplane' ALBM carrier
3). Amphibian ALBM carrier
All stuff from 1974
 

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TriStar-based Lockheed's CMCA


[image removed - better copy below]
 
Just a short explanation to the L-1011 proposal, the same picture, but b/w only and
with the cruise missiles cut-off, was shown in Aviation Week 9/1978:
 

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where i find tis doc: The Boeing Company, "747 Air-Launched Cruise Missile
System Concept", Seattle, Wash., April 1974! Many thanks
 
According to Flight International, Boeing proposed both the 747-200F and the 747SP as cruise-missile carriers. The 747-200F has an overload gross weight of 870,000 lbs and would have a maximum missile capacity of 72 ALCBM-Bs or TALCMs. The 747SP has an overload gross weight of 735,000 lbs and could carry 48 of either missile. The range of the 747-200F could be extended by using six Advanced Tanker/Cargo Aircraft (ATCA) fuel cells. The missiles would be carried on rotary launchers and dropped through a 246 in by 50 in door in the right rear fuselage. ACTA was also proposed for the 747SP.

Photograph of model of Boeing 747-200F-based Cruise Missile Carrier Aircraft (CMCA) concept.

Source: Levy, Howard. "USAF Projects on Show" Flight International November 5, 1977 Page 13.
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1977/1977%20-%203331.html
 

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Those're great! A 1/144 ALCM-launcher dispaly model now seems much more likely.
MOAR.jpg

633507895159070146-moar.jpg
 
The future concept that should be developed is a large BWB missile carrier, it would have a larger payload than these 747 concepts and be moderately stealthy.
 
http://www.codeonemagazine.com/gallery_slideshow.html?item_id=1304


This artist concept shows the Lockheed candidate for the proposed 1970s-era US Air Force Cruise Missile Carrier Aircraft, or CMCA. Based on the L-1011-500 TriStar airliner, the CMCA variant would have had fore and aft internal weapons bays, more powerful radar, and additional sensors and antennae. Promotional material noted that "a number of very advanced systems ... will provide the United States Air Force with the lowest possible life cycle costs -- the direct applications of advanced technology to save energy, operating costs, and maintenance costs throughout the life of the aircraft." The Air Force later abandoned the CMCA concept. Artwork by C.G. Hodgson.
 

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flateric said:
1). Boeing 747 as ALBM carrier
2). 4 and 6-engined 'endurance airplane' ALBM carrier
3). Amphibian ALBM carrier
All stuff from 1974
Click to expand...

The USAF could have definitely done with the 6-engined ALBM carrier in the last 10yrs.
 
The South African Airforce had a programme to use Boeing 707's as cruise missile carriers apparently. I don't think these were to be high capacity carriers, more the case of perhaps carrying 4 or 6 cruise missiles and using the 707 as a long range carry platform. I believe this project is mentioned in Those who had the Power.
 
OOps! Just saw this post. Sorry about being redundant this morning..
 
How easy or difficult would it have been to put a single or multiple bomb bay or internal weapons bay in some of the jet airliners?

Is there a structural issue, such as fuselage cross members or bulkheads?

I'm talking of the fuselage cargo holds beneath the passenger deck, in front or and behind the wings and looking, for example, at the Boeing 707, seeing as it saw a lot of service with airforces around the globe.
 

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