SD poster Equation asked about future designs for aircraft carreirs...in particular he asked if a submarine aircraft carrier were possible in the future.
The fact is, the Japanese had a class of submarines in World War II (towards the end), the I-400 Class, that had a small hanger on deck and could carry three Aichi M6A1 Seiran sea-plane patrol aircraft that could also carry small attack loads.
They were launched from a catapult off the bow of the sub, landed on the water on their floats, and were hauled back into the submarine hanger behind the sail when underway. Three submarines were built and commissioned. They displaced 7,000 tons, which was huge for a submarine in their day. Here's how they looked:.
...and here's the type of aircraft they carried:
So, it is not a new idea...in fact, it is an idea that has already been built and used.
In my World War III military techno-thriller called, Dragon's Fury: World War against America and the West, I had the US, during the course of that 7-8 year war, design a class of large nuclear powered submarine aircraft carriers.
They looked like this:
They had three elevators, two catapaults, and an aft landing spot. They could launch STOVL aircraft like the F-35 from the cat, or have them do short runs, or have them take off vertcally. They carried a mixed airwing including EV-22 Osprey AEW aircraft, SV-22 Osprey anti-submarine aircraft, and F-35B stealth strike fighters. They had a strong APAR system, and also had two 32 cell Mk-41 VLS systems
In the book, these submarines displaced over 40,000 tons.
There was also a variant that was a submarine LHD, that could launch LCACs (through well-deck bay doors on either side of the sub), helicopter and MV-22 air assault, and could also carry a small squadron of F-35Bs and EV-22 Ospreys. They looked like this:
So, there you go. If you have any designs, ideas, etc for future carriers, post and discuss them here. But please...no Yamato Battleship Space Carrier or anything outlandish like that...at least try and make it a serious design.
The fact is, the Japanese had a class of submarines in World War II (towards the end), the I-400 Class, that had a small hanger on deck and could carry three Aichi M6A1 Seiran sea-plane patrol aircraft that could also carry small attack loads.
They were launched from a catapult off the bow of the sub, landed on the water on their floats, and were hauled back into the submarine hanger behind the sail when underway. Three submarines were built and commissioned. They displaced 7,000 tons, which was huge for a submarine in their day. Here's how they looked:.
...and here's the type of aircraft they carried:
So, it is not a new idea...in fact, it is an idea that has already been built and used.
In my World War III military techno-thriller called, Dragon's Fury: World War against America and the West, I had the US, during the course of that 7-8 year war, design a class of large nuclear powered submarine aircraft carriers.
They looked like this:
They had three elevators, two catapaults, and an aft landing spot. They could launch STOVL aircraft like the F-35 from the cat, or have them do short runs, or have them take off vertcally. They carried a mixed airwing including EV-22 Osprey AEW aircraft, SV-22 Osprey anti-submarine aircraft, and F-35B stealth strike fighters. They had a strong APAR system, and also had two 32 cell Mk-41 VLS systems
In the book, these submarines displaced over 40,000 tons.
There was also a variant that was a submarine LHD, that could launch LCACs (through well-deck bay doors on either side of the sub), helicopter and MV-22 air assault, and could also carry a small squadron of F-35Bs and EV-22 Ospreys. They looked like this:
So, there you go. If you have any designs, ideas, etc for future carriers, post and discuss them here. But please...no Yamato Battleship Space Carrier or anything outlandish like that...at least try and make it a serious design.
Last edited by a moderator: