# Airborne aircraft carrier
An airborne aircraft carrier is a large parent aircraft, usually an airship or a heavy bomber or transport plane, that carries, launches, and recovers smaller parasite aircraft while both are in flight. The [United States Navy](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-navy) operated such carriers in the 1930s with its rigid airships [USS Akron](https://www.edgepedia.org/uss-akron) (ZRS-4) and [USS Macon (ZRS-5)](https://www.edgepedia.org/uss-macon-zrs-5), the Soviet Union flew linked composite aircraft in the Zveno project, and the United States Air Force tested bomber-borne parasite fighters in the 1950s. The concept reappeared in the 1970s as a Boeing 747 study and again in the 2010s as DARPA's Gremlins program, which demonstrated mid-air recovery of reusable drones by a C-130 transport.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First operational carriers | USS Akron (ZRS-4), commissioned 27 October 1931, and USS Macon (ZRS-5), commissioned 1933, both rigid airships designed as flying aircraft carriers[1](https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/akron.html) • [2](https://www.naval-air.org/AircraftCollection/airships/airships.asp) |
| Parasite aircraft | Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk biplane with a skyhook on its upper wing; eight built, launched and recovered through the airship's trapeze[3](https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19410007000) |
| End of the airship carriers | Akron lost in a storm on 4 April 1933 with 73 of 76 aboard killed; Macon crashed off California on 12 February 1935 with two crew lost[4](https://news.usni.org/2015/08/19/exploring-the-wreck-of-uss-macon-the-navys-last-flying-aircraft-carrier) |
| Cold War version | Project FICON: a Convair B-36 bomber carrying a Republic RF-84K reconnaissance fighter in its bomb bay; 10 carriers and 25 fighters converted; terminated in 1956[5](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2551825/april-27-1956-the-ficon-project-was-completed-after-seven-flights-of-an-rf84k-f/) |
| 1970s proposal | Boeing 747 Airborne Aircraft Carrier study for the USAF Flight Dynamics Laboratory: a 747-200 mothership for up to ten Model 985-121 microfighters; never built[6](https://www.aerosociety.com/news/boeing-747-the-queens-greatest-hits-the-b-sides/) |
| Modern revival | DARPA Gremlins: an X-61 Gremlin Air Vehicle was recovered in flight by a C-130 in October 2021, and refurbished for a second flight within 24 working hours[7](https://www.darpa.mil/news/2021/gremlins-airborne-recovery) |
## The airship carriers
The United States Navy built the Akron and Macon as long-range scouts for the fleet, and regarded them as potential flying aircraft carriers[1](https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/akron.html). Each carried an internal hangar, about a third of the way aft along the hull, housing Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk biplanes that entered service through a hangar door and hooked onto a retractable trapeze slung beneath the airship[3](https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19410007000) • [8](https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1992/march/macon-last-queen-skies). The Sparrowhawk had a wingspan of 25 feet, a length of 20 feet, a gross weight of 2,700 pounds, and a cruising speed of 125 miles per hour[8](https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1992/march/macon-last-queen-skies). The first successful hook-on to the Akron was made in 1932 by Daniel Ward Harrigan[9](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/how-airship-became-flying-aircraft-carrier).
The scouting logic was straightforward: an airship could search a far wider ocean area than a surface ship, and launching its own airplanes extended that search range further, since the Sparrowhawks flew out as scouts and returned to hook on[9](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/how-airship-became-flying-aircraft-carrier). The Sparrowhawks and their airborne homes operated in interwar fleet exercises, flying scouting missions over the opposing fleet[2](https://www.naval-air.org/AircraftCollection/airships/airships.asp). On the Macon, crews sometimes removed the fighters' landing gear to fit an extra fuel tank, which increased endurance but left the pilot no option except recovery by the airship[4](https://news.usni.org/2015/08/19/exploring-the-wreck-of-uss-macon-the-navys-last-flying-aircraft-carrier).
Both carriers were lost within four years of commissioning. The Akron crashed into the sea off New Jersey in a storm on the night of 3-4 April 1933, killing 73 of the 76 men aboard, including Rear Adm. William A. Moffett, chief of the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics[4](https://news.usni.org/2015/08/19/exploring-the-wreck-of-uss-macon-the-navys-last-flying-aircraft-carrier) • [8](https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1992/march/macon-last-queen-skies). The Macon, based in California, lost a tailfin in a gust off Point Sur on 12 February 1935 and fell nose-up into the Pacific; 74 of 83 crew members were rescued[4](https://news.usni.org/2015/08/19/exploring-the-wreck-of-uss-macon-the-navys-last-flying-aircraft-carrier) • [8](https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1992/march/macon-last-queen-skies). With no dirigible left to operate from, the surviving Sparrowhawks were relegated to utility flying, and the last was retired by 1939[3](https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19410007000).
## The Soviet Zveno composites
A different approach to the same idea linked the aircraft rigidly together. The Vakhmistrov Zveno ("Flight") system used a heavy bomber as a central carrier for light fighters that were quick and maneuverable but lacked the range to reach distant targets on their own[10](https://ar.culture.ru/en/subject/uchastniki-ispytaniya-aviazvena-vahmistrova). The first version, Zveno-1, pairing a TB-1 bomber with two I-4 fighters, was presented by Soviet designer Vladimir Sergeyevich Vakhmistrov in June 1931, and the composite took off near Moscow six months later with test pilot [Valery Chkalov](https://www.edgepedia.org/valery-chkalov) in one of the fighters[10](https://ar.culture.ru/en/subject/uchastniki-ispytaniya-aviazvena-vahmistrova). The first separation was rough: a fighter struck the bomber's wing and pierced its skin before breaking away, but both fighters flew off and the 12-minute flight was otherwise normal[10](https://ar.culture.ru/en/subject/uchastniki-ispytaniya-aviazvena-vahmistrova).
## Cold War parasite fighters
The [United States Air Force](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-states-air-force) pursued bomber-borne parasites after the McDonnell XF-85 Goblin, a tiny escort fighter intended to be carried by a B-36, proved a failure in testing that began in 1948 and was swiftly canceled[11](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2285389/august-23-1948-xf-85-goblin-aircraft-debuts/). The FICON (Fighter Conveyor) project shifted the role to reconnaissance: a modified B-36, designated GRB-36D, carried a Republic RF-84K Thunderflash partly stowed in its bomb bay on a trapeze, launched it near the target, and retrieved it afterward[5](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2551825/april-27-1956-the-ficon-project-was-completed-after-seven-flights-of-an-rf84k-f/). The scheme was judged tactically sound, and the Air Force converted 10 RB-36D bombers to GRB-36D carriers with a complement of 25 RF-84Ks; deployed at up to 25,000 feet, the parasite added 1,180 miles to the carrier's 2,800-mile combat range[5](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2551825/april-27-1956-the-ficon-project-was-completed-after-seven-flights-of-an-rf84k-f/). The project was terminated on 27 April 1956 after seven flights of an RF-84K from a modified B-36, because the fighter could be recovered only under optimum conditions and the combined aircraft lost 5 to 10 percent of the bomber's range[5](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2551825/april-27-1956-the-ficon-project-was-completed-after-seven-flights-of-an-rf84k-f/). Wingtip-coupling experiments, Tip Tow and the later Tom-Tom, which carried fighters attached to a bomber's wingtips, also ended without adoption[5](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2551825/april-27-1956-the-ficon-project-was-completed-after-seven-flights-of-an-rf84k-f/).
## The Boeing 747 study
In the early 1970s, under a contract from the US Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Boeing studied converting a 747-200 into an Airborne Aircraft Carrier that would act as a mothership for up to ten Boeing Model 985-121 microfighters[6](https://www.aerosociety.com/news/boeing-747-the-queens-greatest-hits-the-b-sides/). The fighters would launch through a belly hatch, be refueled in flight by the carrier's booms, and be retrieved and rearmed for their next sortie; the plan called for the 747 to carry enough fuel and ordnance to support three missions by each microfighter[6](https://www.aerosociety.com/news/boeing-747-the-queens-greatest-hits-the-b-sides/) • [12](https://pdhonline.com/courses/m554/m554handout.pdf). The Model 985 microfighter was designed around a limited wingspan of roughly 17.5 feet, an empty weight near 8,000 pounds, and a top speed of about Mach 2.2, but its small fuel load of roughly 2,500 pounds restricted it to short-range combat[13](https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbird-articles/grounded-dreams/boeing-model-985.html). The concept never advanced beyond study drawings and wind-tunnel work, and the microfighters were never developed[13](https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbird-articles/grounded-dreams/boeing-model-985.html).
## Why the concept faded, and its revival
Two developments ended the manned parasite fighter. Advances in air-to-air refueling let conventional fighters extend their own range, removing the carrier's main justification[14](https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Volume-19_Issue-1-4/sum05.pdf). At the same time, mid-air recovery remained the hardest technical problem: FICON worked only in optimum conditions, and the XF-85's close-quarters hookups were judged too dangerous[5](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2551825/april-27-1956-the-ficon-project-was-completed-after-seven-flights-of-an-rf84k-f/).
**Unmanned aircraft changed the cost equation.** DARPA's Gremlins program, named for the imps that became good-luck charms of British pilots in World War II, envisioned launching volleys of small, low-cost drones from bombers, transports, or fighters beyond the reach of adversary defenses, then recovering them in flight by a C-130 for reuse within 24 hours[15](https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/gremlins). The objective air vehicle was sized roughly like a cruise missile, with design goals of a 300 nautical mile radius (500 nautical mile goal), a 60-pound payload, Mach 0.7 speed, and a flyaway cost of $700,000 in fiscal 2015 dollars, with a design life of about 20 uses[16](https://www.airuniversity.af.mil/Portals/10/SSQ/documents/Volume-10_Issue-3/Calhoun.pdf) • [15](https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/gremlins). In October 2021, two X-61 Gremlin Air Vehicles validated autonomous formation flying, and one demonstrated airborne recovery to a C-130; the team then refurbished a vehicle and flew it again within 24 working hours, though one GAV was destroyed during the tests[7](https://www.darpa.mil/news/2021/gremlins-airborne-recovery). The program is now complete[15](https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/gremlins).
Related work continues under other names. DARPA's ANCILLARY program is developing a long-endurance vertical takeoff and landing drone that can launch and recover from ship flight decks and small austere sites without extra infrastructure equipment[17](https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/advanced-aircraft-infrastructure-less-launch-and-recovery), and the Navy's MQ-25A Stingray is being integrated into carrier operations as the first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft[18](https://www.navair.navy.mil/product/Unmanned-Carrier-Aviation). These systems recover onto ships rather than onto flying motherships, but they revisit the same goal the Akron and Macon served: extending the reach of a host platform with aircraft it carries and controls.
## References
1. [Akron (ZRS-4), Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command](https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/akron.html)
2. [Airships, National Museum of Naval Aviation collections and research](https://www.naval-air.org/AircraftCollection/airships/airships.asp)
3. [Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk, Smithsonian Institution](https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19410007000)
4. [Exploring the Wreck of USS Macon, The Navy's Last Flying Aircraft Carrier, USNI News](https://news.usni.org/2015/08/19/exploring-the-wreck-of-uss-macon-the-navys-last-flying-aircraft-carrier)
5. [April 27, 1956: The FICON Project was Completed After Seven Flights of an RF-84K From a Modified B-36, Air Force Test Center](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2551825/april-27-1956-the-ficon-project-was-completed-after-seven-flights-of-an-rf84k-f/)
6. [Boeing 747 - The Queen's Greatest Hits & the B Sides, Royal Aeronautical Society](https://www.aerosociety.com/news/boeing-747-the-queens-greatest-hits-the-b-sides/)
7. [Gremlins Program Demonstrates Airborne Recovery, DARPA](https://www.darpa.mil/news/2021/gremlins-airborne-recovery)
8. [The Macon: Last Queen of the Skies, Naval History Magazine](https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1992/march/macon-last-queen-skies)
9. [How An Airship Became a Flying Aircraft Carrier, National Air and Space Museum](https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/how-airship-became-flying-aircraft-carrier)
10. [Participants of the Vakhmistrov Zveno testing, Culture.ru / Valery Chkalov Memorial Museum](https://ar.culture.ru/en/subject/uchastniki-ispytaniya-aviazvena-vahmistrova)
11. [August 23, 1948: XF-85 Goblin Aircraft Debuts, Air Force Test Center](https://www.aftc.af.mil/About-Us/History/On-This-Day-in-Test-History/Article-Display-Test-History/Article/2285389/august-23-1948-xf-85-goblin-aircraft-debuts/)
12. [Boeing 747-100: The Plane That Changed the World (course handout)](https://pdhonline.com/courses/m554/m554handout.pdf)
13. [Grounded Dreams: The Boeing Model 985 - The Mach 2+ Future That Never Was, Vintage Aviation News](https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbird-articles/grounded-dreams/boeing-model-985.html)
14. [Air & Space Power Journal, Summer 2005](https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/ASPJ/journals/Volume-19_Issue-1-4/sum05.pdf)
15. [Gremlins, DARPA program page](https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/gremlins)
16. [The Gremlins Program, Paul Calhoun, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Fall 2016](https://www.airuniversity.af.mil/Portals/10/SSQ/documents/Volume-10_Issue-3/Calhoun.pdf)
17. [ANCILLARY, DARPA program page](https://www.darpa.mil/research/programs/advanced-aircraft-infrastructure-less-launch-and-recovery)
18. [Unmanned Carrier Aviation, NAVAIR](https://www.navair.navy.mil/product/Unmanned-Carrier-Aviation)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Transport and spaceflight › Aviation › Aircraft › Experimental and advanced aircraft › Hypersonic and advanced-concept aircraft › Exotic configurations and speculative concepts*
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