Seaplanes V.

This is coolbert:

Conclusion.

Sea Base!

Unclassified!

It is not like the United States Navy is not aware of the potentiality as posed by the military seaplane!

Here from an unclassified document as dated 2004 the seaplane envisioned as a valuable adjunct to naval operations taken into consideration.

That military seaplane more than anything else seen not as a combat warplane but as a long-range heavy-lift aircraft incorporated into the concept of the SEA BASE!

The sea base a combination of transport vessels, floating piers and facilities including the incorporation of the seaplane as a transport military aircraft!

"Use of Seaplanes and Integration within a Sea Base"

"14. ABSTRACT"

"A study to investigate the utility of seaplanes to support an offshore military Sea Base has been undertaken by the Center For Innovation In Ship Design. The potential use and importance of seaplanes for future sea-based military missions are discussed. The research outlines the history of seaplane development, their different modes of operation and associated enabling technologies."

Conclusion:

"It is evident from the study that seaplanes have a potential role in supporting seabasing through rapid and strategic deployment of troops, equipment, and logistic support. Seaplanes would certainly enhance Sea Base capability, providing a useful resource to achieve force closure, heavy lift logistic sustainment from the Sea Base to shore, and in-flight refueling."

BUT NOT THE SEAPLANE AS A COMBAT WARPLANE ABLE TO DELIVER ORDNANCE ON AN ENEMY TARGET, THAT SEAPLANE TENDER AND ASSOCIATED AIR WING ROAMING FREELY THE OCEANS OF THE WORLD PROJECTING POWER ON DEMAND!!

That long-range heavy-lift seaplane as a military transport the archetype from a much previous era the Convair Tradewind.

"The Convair R3Y Tradewind was an American 1950s turboprop-powered flying boat designed and built by Convair . . . a large flying boat using new technology developed during the war . . . the design should be developed into a passenger and cargo aircraft."

Tradewind able to "beach" and evidently having an amphibious capability with organic wheels?

 

Tradewind also in the transport mode that front end swinging open when the plane "beached", troops allowed egress forward this feature considered important.

Consider also the concept of the ultra heavy lift transport, originally conceived as not a seaplane but nonetheless perhaps could be made versatile enough to function as a flying boat [water tight hull] and operate in conjunction with a sea base.

That transport the Boeing Pelican. Heavy lift long range transport using wing-in-ground effect for additional lift. Massive airplane with extraordinary capacity, only a concept under study.

"The Boeing Pelican ULTRA (Ultra Large Transport Aircraft) was a proposed ground effect fixed-wing aircraft under study by Boeing Phantom Works."

Pelican flying over water at max height, very low, deriving additional lift from wing-in-ground.

"Intended as a large-capacity transport craft for military or civilian use, it would have a wingspan of 500 feet (150 m), a cargo capacity of 1,400 tons (1,300 metric tonnes), and a range of about 10,000 nautical miles (18,000 km). Powered by four turboprop engines, its main mode would be to fly 20–50 ft (6–15 m) over water . . . It would operate from conventional runways, with its weight distributed over 38 fuselage-mounted landing gears with 76 wheels."

"the Pelican Ultra would carry a maximum of 2.8 million pounds of cargo--that's 17 M1 battle tanks--for a distance of up to 3,000 miles. For longer-range missions of up to 10,000 miles, the aircraft could carry payloads of up to 1.5 million pounds [41 Stryker vehicles]."

The authors of the naval study did not anticipate the use of COMBAT seaplanes primarily functioning as stand-off delivery systems. A sea base could indeed function quite well as an "airfield" for an entire wing of combat sea planes again the cost only a fraction of a brand new "super" carrier. This all seems rather do-able to me.

coolbert.