Parasite aircraft
Encyclopedia
Composite aircraft
A composite aircraft is made up of multiple component craft. It takes off and flies initially as a single aircraft, with the components able to separate in flight and continue as independent aircraft.-Design principles:...
which is carried, and air launched
Air launch
Air launching is the practice of dropping a parasite aircraft, rocket, or missile from a mothership. The parasite aircraft or missile is usually tucked under the wing of the larger mothership and then "dropped" from underneath the wing while in flight...
by, a mother ship
Mother ship
A mother ship is a vessel or aircraft that carries a smaller vessel or aircraft that operates independently from it. Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental aircraft to altitudes where they can conduct their research , or ships that carry small submarines to an area of ocean to be...
aircraft.
The first use for parasite aircraft was in 1916, when the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
used a Bristol Scout
Bristol Scout
The Bristol Scout was a simple, single seat, rotary-engined biplane originally intended as a civilian racing aircraft. Like other similar fast, light aircraft of the period - it was acquired by the RNAS and the RFC as a "scout", or fast reconnaissance type...
, flying from a Felixstowe Porte Baby
Felixstowe Porte Baby
-References:*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 2 December 1955. pp.842—846.*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 16 December 1955. pp.895—898.*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 23 December 1955. pp.929—932.* accessed 1 February 2007....
, a giant flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
of its time. This eventually developed into modern jet bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s carrying fully capable fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
. In some cases, these aircraft are able to return to their mother ship. As fighter capabilities increased, this role was seen as less and less necessary.
Military use
Escort fighter
The escort fighter was a World War II concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets.The perfect escort fighter had long range, a lengthy combat loiter time to protect the bombers, and enough internal fuel to return home...
s. Development of aerial refueling
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
has made parasite fighters obsolete.
The first parasite fighters were carried aboard military airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s. As early as 1918, the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
launched Sopwith Camel
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
fighters from HM Airship 23
No. 23r
|-See also:-References:* Airships Heritage Trust, 2006, *Morpurgo, J.E. Barnes Wallis - A Biography, Longman , 1972 ISBN 0-582-10360-6*Mowthorpe, Ces. Battlebags: British Airships of the First World War, 1995 ISBN 0-905778-13-8...
, and tried again with Gloster Grebe
Gloster Grebe
-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam and Company Ltd., 1987. ISBN 0-85177-807-0.* Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57. London:Putnam, First edition 1957....
s on the R.33 in 1925
1925 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1925:-Events:* In the United Kingdom, the first Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadrons are formed....
. The "Imperial Airship" Programme"
Imperial Airship Scheme
The British Imperial Airship Scheme was a project to improve communication with the far corners of the British Empire by establishing air routes using airships...
of 1924 envisaged a commercial airship that could also carry five fighter aircraft as well as troops if put into military use but the military usage was dropped and only civilian use retained. In the following decade, two U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
airships, the USS Akron and the Macon
USS Macon (ZRS-5)
USS Macon was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting. She served as a "flying aircraft carrier", launching Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast,...
, were designed with parasite fighter capability. Although operations with F9C Sparrowhawk
F9C Sparrowhawk
|-See also:-External links:...
s were quite successful, the loss of both airships in crashes put an end to this programme.
The first bombers to carry parasite fighters did so as part of the Zveno experiments
Zveno project
Zveno was a parasite aircraft concept developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. It consisted of a Tupolev TB-1 or a Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber acting as a mothership for between two and five fighters...
carried out in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
by Vladimir Vakhmistrov from 1931. Up to five fighters of various types were carried by Polikarpov
Polikarpov
Polikarpov Design Bureau was a Soviet OKB for aircraft, led by Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. After his death on 30 July 1944 at the age of 52, his OKB was absorbed into Lavochkin, but with some of its engineers going to Mikoyan-Gurevich and its production facilities going to Sukhoi...
TB-2
Polikarpov TB-2
|-References:...
and Tupolev
Tupolev
Tupolev is a Russian aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Basmanny District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Known officially as Public Stock Company Tupolev, it is the successor of the Tupolev OKB or Tupolev Design Bureau headed by the Soviet aerospace engineer A.N. Tupolev...
TB-3
Tupolev TB-3
The Tupolev TB-3 was a heavy bomber aircraft which was deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and during World War II. It was the world's first cantilever wing four-engine heavy bomber. Despite obsolescence and being officially withdrawn from service in 1939, TB-3 performed bomber and...
bombers. In August 1941, these combinations would fly the only combat missions ever undertaken by parasite fighters. TB-3s carrying Polikarpov I-16SPB
Polikarpov I-16
The Polikarpov I-16 was a Soviet fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first cantilever-winged monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear. The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the Soviet Air Force at the beginning of World War II...
dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
s attacked the Cernavodă bridge
King Carol I Bridge
The Anghel Saligny Bridge was built between 1890 and 1895 in Romania over the Danube and Borcea branch of the Danube, and when it was completed it then became the longest bridge in Europe and the third longest in the world...
and Constantsa docks, in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. After that, this squadron, based in the Crimea, carried out a tactical attack on a bridge over the river Dneiper at Zaporozhe, which had been captured by advancing German troops.
Later in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
experimented with the Messerschmitt Me 328
Messerschmitt Me 328
The Messerschmitt Me 328 was originally designed as a parasite aircraft to protect Luftwaffe bomber formations during World War II. During its protracted development, a wide variety of other roles were suggested for it...
as a parasite fighter, but problems with its pulsejet engines could not be overcome. Other late-war rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
-powered projects such as the Arado E.381 and Sombold So 344 never left the experimental stage.
During the early years of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
experimented with a variety of parasite fighters to protect its Convair B-36
Convair B-36
The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built , although there have...
bombers, including the dedicated XF-85 Goblin
XF-85 Goblin
The McDonnell XF-85 Goblin was an American prototype fighter aircraft conceived during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft. It was intended to be carried in and deployed from the bomb bay of the giant Convair B-36 bomber as a parasite fighter. The XF-85's intended role was to defend bombers from...
, and methods of either carrying a Republic F-84 Thunderjet in the bomber's bomb bay (the FICON project
FICON project
The FICON program was conducted by the United States Air Force in the 1950s to test the feasibility of a Convair B-36 Peacemaker bomber carrying an Republic RF-84K Thunderflash parasite fighter in its bomb bay. Earlier wingtip coupling experiments including Tip Tow which were attempts at carrying...
), or attached to the bomber's wingtips (Project Tom-Tom). These projects were all soon abandoned, partly because aerial refueling
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
appeared as a much safer solution to extend the range of fighters.
Example of parasitic aircraft combinations
Examples which have flown include:- Porte BabyFelixstowe Porte Baby-References:*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 2 December 1955. pp.842—846.*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 16 December 1955. pp.895—898.*Bruce, J.M. "". Flight, 23 December 1955. pp.929—932.* accessed 1 February 2007....
/Bristol ScoutBristol ScoutThe Bristol Scout was a simple, single seat, rotary-engined biplane originally intended as a civilian racing aircraft. Like other similar fast, light aircraft of the period - it was acquired by the RNAS and the RFC as a "scout", or fast reconnaissance type...
, the first parasite aircraft (1916) - L 35 (LZ 80)/Albatros D.IIIAlbatros D.IIIThe Albatros D.III was a biplane fighter aircraft used by the Imperial German Army Air Service and the Austro-Hungarian Air Service during World War I. The D.III was flown by many top German aces, including Manfred von Richthofen, Ernst Udet, Erich Löwenhardt, Kurt Wolff, and Karl Emil Schäfer...
, the first parasite fighter flying from an airship (January 26, 1918) - HMA 23/Sopwith CamelSopwith CamelThe Sopwith Camel was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter introduced on the Western Front in 1917. Manufactured by Sopwith Aviation Company, it had a short-coupled fuselage, heavy, powerful rotary engine, and concentrated fire from twin synchronized machine guns. Though difficult...
, parasite fighter, flying from an airship (1918) - Tc-3Tc-3The TC-3 and the TC-7 were the two US Army Corps non-rigid blimps used for parasite fighter trials conducted in 1923-24. A single Sperry Messenger biplane was equipped with a skyhook to engage the temporary trapeze mounted to the control carriage of the blimp itself. The first successful docking...
and Tc-7 non-rigid airship launched and recovered a Sperry Messenger biplane (1923) - Royal Air ForceRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
Trials of DH 53 Hummingbird light planes launched and recovered by the airship R33 (1924), followed by equipping the airship with two Gloster GrebeGloster Grebe-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam and Company Ltd., 1987. ISBN 0-85177-807-0.* Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1918-57. London:Putnam, First edition 1957....
fighters (1925). - US Navy's trials of a glider and a biplane recovered by the USS Los AngelesUSS Los Angeles (ZR-3)The second USS Los Angeles was a rigid airship, designated ZR-3, that was built in 1923-1924 by the Zeppelin factory in Friedrichshafen, Germany, where it was originally designated LZ-126...
, followed by the USS AkronUSS Akron (ZRS-4)USS Akron was a helium-filled rigid airship of the United States Navy that was lost in a weather-related accident off the New Jersey coast early on April 4, 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crew and passengers on board...
and MaconUSS Macon (ZRS-5)USS Macon was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting. She served as a "flying aircraft carrier", launching Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast,...
/F9C SparrowhawkF9C Sparrowhawk|-See also:-External links:...
, which formed a very successful U.S. NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
escort fighter program, ended when the airships crashed (1935). - LZ 129 HindenburgLZ 129 HindenburgLZ 129 Hindenburg was a large German commercial passenger-carrying rigid airship, the lead ship of the Hindenburg class, the longest class of flying machine and the largest airship by envelope volume...
had trials using parasite aircraft in the days before she crashed at Lakehurst, but the trial proved unsuccessful as the plane hit the trapeze on her hull. - Mitsubishi G4MMitsubishi G4MThe Mitsubishi G4M 一式陸上攻撃機, 一式陸攻 Isshiki rikujō kōgeki ki, Isshikirikkō was the main twin-engine, land-based bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allies gave the G4M the reporting name Betty...
/OhkaOhkaThe Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka was a purpose-built, rocket powered human-guided anti-shipping kamikaze attack plane employed by Japan towards the end of World War II...
Rocket plane. - Short S.21/Short S.20, Short-Mayo Composite a flying-boat/seaplaneSeaplaneA seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
combination for transoceanic postal service (1938) - Tupolev TB-3Tupolev TB-3The Tupolev TB-3 was a heavy bomber aircraft which was deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and during World War II. It was the world's first cantilever wing four-engine heavy bomber. Despite obsolescence and being officially withdrawn from service in 1939, TB-3 performed bomber and...
/Polikarpov SPB, the first parasite aircraft to see combat (1941) - Dornier Do 217Dornier Do 217The Dornier Do 217 was a bomber used by German Luftwaffe during World War II as a more powerful version of the Dornier Do 17, known as the Fliegender Bleistift . Designed in 1937 and 1938 as a heavy bomber, its design was refined during 1939 and production began in late 1940...
/Messerschmitt Me 328Messerschmitt Me 328The Messerschmitt Me 328 was originally designed as a parasite aircraft to protect Luftwaffe bomber formations during World War II. During its protracted development, a wide variety of other roles were suggested for it...
, escort fighter, unsuccessful due to engine problems - B-36Convair B-36The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built , although there have...
/XF-85 GoblinXF-85 GoblinThe McDonnell XF-85 Goblin was an American prototype fighter aircraft conceived during World War II by McDonnell Aircraft. It was intended to be carried in and deployed from the bomb bay of the giant Convair B-36 bomber as a parasite fighter. The XF-85's intended role was to defend bombers from...
, an attempt to equip bomberBomberA bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s with their own escort fighters (1948) - B-36/F-84F-84 ThunderjetThe Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 flew in 1946...
, another, more successful, escort fighter attempt (1952) - DC-130DC-130The Lockheed DC-130 is a variant of C-130 Hercules, designed for drone control. It could carry four Ryan Firebee drones underneath its wings.-Origin of the Design:...
/Q-2C Firebee, drone launched and controlled from C-130 "mother" - Lockheed D-21/M-21Lockheed D-21/M-21The Lockheed D-21 was an American Mach 3+ reconnaissance drone. The D-21 was initially designed to be launched from the back of its M-21 carrier aircraft, a variant of the Lockheed A-12 aircraft. Development began in October 1962...
, for high-speed reconnaissanceReconnaissanceReconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
, based upon the SR-71 BlackbirdSR-71 BlackbirdThe Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" was an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft. It was developed as a black project from the Lockheed A-12 reconnaissance aircraft in the 1960s by the Lockheed Skunk Works. Clarence "Kelly" Johnson was responsible for many of the...
(1963)
See also
- Airborne aircraft carrierAirborne aircraft carrierAirborne aircraft carriers are aircraft which can launch other aircraft. These typically are large aircraft that launch fighter-interceptor planes.-Dirigible aircraft carriers:...
- Mother shipMother shipA mother ship is a vessel or aircraft that carries a smaller vessel or aircraft that operates independently from it. Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental aircraft to altitudes where they can conduct their research , or ships that carry small submarines to an area of ocean to be...
- Composite aircraftComposite aircraftA composite aircraft is made up of multiple component craft. It takes off and flies initially as a single aircraft, with the components able to separate in flight and continue as independent aircraft.-Design principles:...
- MistelMistelThe Mistel , also known as Beethoven-Gerät and Vati und Sohn , was a Luftwaffe composite aircraft type of bomber, that appeared late in World War II....
—German WWII project in which a piloted fighter aimed, then released, a pilotless ("bunker-buster") bomber with an explosive warhead in its nose