50-60s of the 20th century,In order to win a comprehensive victory in the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union have put all kinds of high and new technologies into the frontier military field. As a result, a large number of technologies are not yet mature, and they are practiced without sufficient validation. Not only will it not be able to bear fruit smoothly, but it will also be completely abandoned in the inhumane iteration of ideas.
For example, the CL-1201 nuclear-powered aircraft reflects the grand ambition of the US military to try to develop an air carrier. However, every time a great innovation is proposed, the overall design must be adjusted for it, and then it is stuck in an endless cycle of escalation and argumentation.
1947-60 The composition of the forces of the US Strategic Air Command was still quite "rough".
Due to the proliferation of a large number of highly intelligent and dexterous munitions, it is difficult to understand why the Air Force tried to develop nuclear-powered aircraft in the early days of the Cold War. After all, scientists have never effectively solved the problem of personal radiation protection for drivers, and even the most basic cruising safety is not in mind. But the technological advances of the 1950s and 60s were often accompanied by budget struggles between the various services. In other words, whoever can come up with a groundbreaking concept** will be able to fundamentally gain an all-round advantage. It can not only make opponents feel the pressure, but also elevate the sector to the national darling through such structural innovations.
Bombers as strong as the B-52 class could not satisfy the US Air Force
It is precisely for this reason that the phenomena of frenzied competition between the navy and air force have emerged within several major powers, including the United States. The two sides often engage in endless rounds of contest over strategic nuclear deterrence capabilities, conventional tactical deployment rates, and best-in-cost ratios. The former eventually moved out nuclear submarines equipped with submarine-launched ballistic missiles, while the latter responded with a number of new bombers with intercontinental combat capabilities. However, even the B-52 Stratofortress, which has excellent comprehensive performance, is difficult to be on the front line at all times like an aircraft carrier formation. Therefore, there are good deeds to exert subjective initiativeShift the power source of the propulsion engine from fossil fuels to nuclear energy.
NB-36H with a nuclear reactor
As early as 1955, the U.S. Air Force used the famous B-36 Peacemaker bomber to modify an NB-36H nuclear-powered verification aircraft. Due to the need to install an air-cooled reactor in a limited airframe, the original internal space was significantly adjusted. Only an 11-ton cockpit can accommodate two pilots, one flight engineer and two nuclear engineers is left, and it is wrapped in a heavy lead layer on the outside and designed with a rubber protective layer on the inside. Even each small window is made of 25-30 cm thick crystal. Of course, the original conventional power system was also retained in its entirety for normal flights in the non-experimental phase.
2 aviation and reactor facilities from the 50s
Theoretically, as long as the aircraft itself is not at risk, the radiation in the reactor does not endanger the safety of the occupants. So, this NB-36H general attack carried out 89 hours of nuclear-powered flight. But no matter how capable an expert is, he doesn't dare to pat his chest and guarantee that this uncontrollable energy will be able to keep to himself in the event of an emergency. Moreover, having to load two different power engines at the same time will directly make the overall weight of the aircraft soar rapidly, and it is impossible to dodge the enemy's supersonic interceptors or anti-aircraft missiles. It was abandoned only in the spring of 1961, becoming the only aircraft in American history to be equipped with a reactor setup.
1964 The first nuclear formation of the U.S. Navy circumnavigated the globe
Including the aircraft carriers USS Enterprise USS Long Beach and the cruiser USS Bainbridge
At the same time, the US Navy's nuclear-powered upgrade has begun to bear fruit. After the success of the Nautilus nuclear submarine in the 50s, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise was moved out non-stop, as well as two nuclear-powered cruisers with different functions. In addition, the successful test of the Polaris missile, which has the capability of underwater direct launch, almost completely crushed the opponent of the Air Force in this round of competition. Although it will not immediately eliminate the subsonic strategic bomber, it will be enough to maintain the lead for a long time to come.
The Polaris missile, which can be launched directly into the subsonic bomber, makes the value of the subsonic bomber even lower
Since conventional tactics are ineffective, the U.S. Air Force can only try to use the sword to the edge and continue to use nuclear power magic against the navy. In 1969, they approached the famous Lockheed Corporation to design a super-aircraft with disruptive effects. But the plan is not to replace any existing bombers on hand, but to develop a nuclear-powered air carrier that will make the Navy's surface formations no longer distinctive.
XF-85 parasitic fighter that can be carried by the B29 or B36
In fact, the first idea of an air carrier was conceived at the beginning of the 20th century. However, due to the technical conditions at that time, hard airships could only be used as carriers, and it was too late to adapt to the rapid situation of escalating the intensity of air combat. By the end of World War II, the Americans also planned to use the B-36 bomber as a platform and carry four XF-85 Imp fighters for long-distance cruises. However, it was unable to solve the efficiency problem for a long time, so it was abandoned in 1949. Now it is hoped that the concept will be combined with a nuclear-powered aircraft to produce a monster that can carry 22 parasitic fighters at a time, and can transport 3,000 paratroopers to the front line if needed. It is tantamount to partially weakening the influence of the maritime carrier, and also preparing to carry out dimensionality reduction strikes on the newly emerging amphibious assault ship concept. More importantly,The Americans hope that this air monster will not have to land for 41 days in a row!
Flight renderings of CL-1201
Soon, the concept beast, named the CL-1201, became the biggest freak in the history of modern aviation design. Based on the experience of previous demonstrators, Lockheed engineers chose crescent-shaped wings that are conducive to high-altitude and high-speed flight. But the size is an astonishing 340 meters, which is more than the length of the flight deck of many small and medium-sized countries. Even with a relatively short body length, it is quite a terrible 170 meters. Its main power source is four 1,830 MW nuclear engines to ensure that it can operate at an altitude of 16,000 feet8 days of continuous work at high subsonic speeds at Mach 41.
The incredibly large wingspan makes the CL-1201 as long as a heavy-duty aircraft carrier
Of course, the CL-1201 has a payload of about 5,440 tons and 2 million cubic feet of storage space. The ideal parasitic fighter would be 24 F-4 Phantoms, 11 of which would be mounted on one side of the wing, and the other 2 would be mounted directly on the belly. As for the extra ammunition and fuel that these aircraft are equipped with, it is natural that all of them are pocketed by the mothership. And in non-critical situations, only 475 crew members are needed. If there is a need to expand, it will only increase to 800 personnel, which is far less than any single aircraft carrier with the same load.
According to the design, the CL-1201 can carry up to 24 Phantom fighters
On the other hand, Lockheed has not forgotten about the work of heavy air units. As a result, the CL-1201 has the ability to carry nuclear bombs, and has a full 10 missiles in a single sortie, which is estimated to be launched at a distance of 965 kilometers from the target. And for safety reasons, the maximum ceiling in direct attack mode was 30,000 feet, which was enough to avoid the SA-2 air defense system, which was generally equipped in Warsaw Pact countries at the time. It's just that in the eyes of the almost crazy US Air Force, these details are insignificant, and their original intention is by no means limited to this.
Comparison of the size of the CL-1201 and the wingman of the Boeing 707
Because it is to "counterattack" the aircraft carrier and also pose a "deadly threat" to the amphibious assault ship, the designers have launched a special logistics transport version for the CL-1201. Each aircraft was capable of transporting 450 paratroopers and 1,150 tons of supplies and equipment to carry out heavy raids on the rear of enemy-occupied areas. Although there is a big gap from the original standard of 3,000 people, it is already a science fiction standard that ordinary people can hardly imagine. There will even be specially modified Boeing 707 transport wingmen with a 5:1 arrangement to form a complete air fleet. Three of them can dock in the air at the CL-1201 carrier when needed, and use the passage located in the nose of the aircraft for personnel or material exchange. If you take into account that these Boeing wingmen can carry 150 soldiers, then the number of soldiers in a basic air fleet reaches 1,150.
Each logistics transport version of the CL-1201 needs to be paired with five Boeing 707 wingmen
In addition, the engineers also took into account a lot of user-friendly design. For example, each CL-1201 is equipped with six different functional compartments to provide sleep, food, entertainment and other services for crew members and soldiers, so as to survive the 41-day turnaround deployment period. However, it is also important to arrange an independent combat command cabin to coordinate the storage location of personnel or heavy equipment of various units, so as to prevent the problem of unstable center of gravity that will endanger flight safety.
The U.S. Navy's Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship
It is also a competitive target for the CL-1201 nuclear-powered aircraft
However, the US Air Force does not seem to be satisfied with the above arrangement. Because a single Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship of the same era can carry 1,806 marines at a time, and there is more than 1,120 cubic meters of cargo loading space. Therefore, the configuration of the CL-1201 + Boeing 707 wingman in the logistics transport version is not enoughIt is better to use various types of CL-1201 directly for flexible marshalling. For example, 1 aircraft is used as an air carrier, and 7 are used for later transportation.
A strategic fleet of 8 CL-1201s with a theoretical global deployment capability
In this way, each strategic fleet consisting of 8 CL-1201s can carry 3896 soldiers + 6207 tons of equipment. In addition to maintaining fresh water and rations for at least 30 days, it is also possible to store artillery,** and even some light bombardment aircraft. If you take into account the sortie efficiency close to the speed of sound, it is enough to leave behind the amphibious assault ship with a speed of 22 knots. As for the inland areas that the latter cannot reach, they are also within the projection coverage of nuclear-powered aircraft.
The CL-1201's pie-like design makes it difficult to actually manufacture
However, this kind of sky-high pie aimed at the weakness of the Air Force ultimately needs to be implemented by the designer. Because the CL-1201 is so large that it surpasses almost any aerospace equipment in human history, the wheels of the landing gear alone cost 24 meters wide. If it is to be mass-produced, a special oversized runway must also be built. However, in the era of the Cold War, which was full of dangers, all places that could be used for aircraft take-off and landing would be regarded as key targets by the enemy. As a result, most countries expect to decentralize airport functions and share risk with new STOL or VTOL technologies. But Lockheed's plan is to go in the opposite direction, which inevitably makes the Air Force, which is gradually calming down, think twice.
Even in service CL-1201 will become a huge burden for the logistics department
As a result, more magical designs for the CL-1201 began to emerge one by one. The first is to arrange for short take-off and landing capabilities, hoping to use a large number of integrated Boeing 747 airliner engines to allow the behemoth to be as runway-independent as the Harrier. Of these, 54 additional engines were required for each logistical transport version to gain an additional 82,000 pounds of thrust. For the mothership version, which carries a large number of fighters, the number of engines needs to be increased to 182. Obviously, this will be an eternal nightmare for ground maintenance personnel, and it will be a super demon that makes all logistics units talk about it.
4 engines the size of an airliner
Make CL-1201 a hellish build difficulty
At the same time, the four main engines used for plane flight also made it difficult for Lockheed. Because to meet their design standards, a single engine would have to be the size of a Boeing 747. But even the technology of the early 21st century was not enough to make such a large and qualified version. Even if it is forcibly built by the Spiritual Victory Method, it is difficult to carry out quick inspection and repair. For a ** that emphasizes its own existence, such a dilemma is enough to make itself reap a fatal ending.
CL-1201, if built as designed, would be larger than many iconic buildings
It is worth mentioning that the issue of power is not yet the biggest obstacle to demonstrating the feasibility of the CL-1201 mothership. Because after it was determined that the vertical take-off and landing function should be achieved, the original nuclear reactor protection device had to be further strengthened. The R&D team has come up with liquid metal cooling and touching supercooled air outside, but none of them have proven to be effective. And they are afraid that the body will be intercepted halfway, and they are ready to equip it with a point air defense system or laser. The result is only to get more and more wrong, and gradually deviate from the original design intention.
Even in the 21st century, the CL-1201 design is too sci-fi
In the end, the design scheme, which is comparable to science fiction**CL-1201, was canceled due to cost overruns during the demonstration stage. All the expenses invested by the Air Force were used by the designers on paper to solve one new problem after another. In this process, no parts are produced, because even the relevant assembly lines have to be remanufactured. So there is no prototype or verification machine, and it will always be just a glimpse of the renderings.
The X-61 UAV, which entered service in 2019, was delivered mainly by C-130 transport aircraft
Although the CL-1201 was not the last attempt at an air carrier, it largely fading the US Air Force's favorability towards it. They soon shifted the direction of the design of strategic deterrence units to hypersonic, high maneuverability and stealth performance. Even today, with the popularity of drone technology, there is a reluctance to invest too much enthusiasm in this field.
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