DARPA selects teams for Liberty Lifter program

General Atomics will work with Maritime Applied Physics Corporation and Aurora Flight Sciences is partnering with Gibbs & Cox and ReconCraft in advancing designs for the Liberty Lifter program, which is developing a long-range, low-cost X-Plane capable of seaborne strategic and tactical heavy lift.

According to DARPA, the planned Liberty Lifter demonstrator will be a large flying boat similar in size and capacity to the C-17 Globemaster III. Program goals include take-off and landing in sea state four, sustained on-water operation up to sea state five, and extended flight close to the water in ground effect with the capability to fly out of ground effect at altitudes up to 10,000 feet above sea level.

“We are excited to kick off this program and looking forward to working closely with both performer teams as they mature their point-of-departure design concepts through Phase 1,” said DARPA Liberty Lifter program manager Christopher Kent. “The two teams have taken distinctly different design approaches that will enable us to explore a relatively large design space during Phase 1.”