Lockheed's Insane Attack Carrier: The CL-1201

In 1969, the U. S. government funded one of the  most unusual projects in the history of aviation.

It had only two objectives. Determine just how large an aircraft could get, and demonstrate  what it would mean for U. S.

air power. Spearheaded by the most secretive  company in aviation, the result was the Lockheed CL-1201. A project that to  this day, remains shrouded in mystery.

The 1960s saw breathtaking advancements in the  field of aerospace. Aircraft were flying faster, higher and further. And engineers  weren't just pushing the limits of speed.

Aircraft were getting larger. The newly developed Lockheed C-5 was a massive machine weighing several hundred tons.  Its power and range dwarfed anything before it.

But it wasn’t unrealistic to assume that  aircraft could get many times larger. Advances in aerodynamics, exotic new materials, and even new forms of propulsion  were just around the corner. Much of the breakneck pace in development was  fueled by the Cold War.

With the United States and Soviet Union vying to gain the upper hand,  huge sums were spent developing spy planes that could fly faster and higher, and bombers  that could carry more payload further. The aim was to reach any corner of  the world as quickly as possible. To counter the expansion of Soviet power,  the United States maintained a strategy of containment.

And that meant maintaining a  vast fleet of carrier battle groups that could respond to a crisis anywhere in the world. But  as the Cold War intensified throughout the 1960s, no corner of the world seemed safe from Soviet  agitation. To respond quickly and decisively, the United States looked to radical new technologies.

By the 1960's, the Lockheed California company  was developing the world’s most advanced aircraft, pushing the technology of the  time to its absolute limit. And they had worked with the Navy and Air  Force to evaluate new technologies and develop the next generation of military  aircraft. Much of it, highly classified.

But in 1969, the company produced an unusual  study that seemed out of place even among its cutting-edge research. It detailed  an aircraft with monstrous proportions, at nearly six thousand tons and with  an eleven hundred foot wingspan, to serve as both a military transport  and an airborne aircraft carrier. Yet today, surprisingly little is known about the  project.

Because, Lockheed's study has vanished without a trace. Even the U. S Department  of Defense has no record of it.

As if it were somehow lost or erased from existence. But over the years, Lockheed’s design has been cited in several other aerospace  studies. Including a report from 1982, that provides just enough detail to piece together  one of the most unusual aircraft ever studied.

With a payload capacity measured in the millions  of pounds, the Lockheed CL-1201 would represent an entirely new class of aircraft. Giving the  United States the ability to deploy several hundred fully equipped troops and armament to  anywhere in the world within hours. Or launch dozens of heavily armed combat aircraft on  a moment's notice.

And Lockheed's engineers outlined a scenario where these capabilities  would be vital for the United States. They envisioned an organized uprising halfway  across the globe, instigated by the Soviet Union. Responding to a call for assistance, the U.

S.  would typically deploy a carrier group and marines to help stabilize the situation. But in Lockheed’s scenario, the Mediterranean would be blocked off and  nearby foreign bases would be unavailable.

So the 1201 would provide the only means  for a rapid strike with a sizable force, launched directly from the continental United  States. And to explain how this would all work, I’ve brought on a former BBC news presenter. Oh hello there!

This video cassette will  help you learn about the Lockheed CL-1201. With the new 1201, Lockheed will set a  new standard for engineering innovation. But, you probably have questions about how  it’ll all work so, let’s jump right in.

Within hours of receiving a call for  assistance, an attack carrier would be dispatched from an airbase in Georgia, bound for  an aerial staging area over the Mediterranean. Armed with 24 aircraft and long-range  cruise missiles, the carrier’s role would be to establish air superiority  and function as a central command center. Seven Logistic Support Aircraft  would also be dispatched to rendezvous with the carrier over the Mediterranean.

The Logistic Support Aircraft or LSAs are giant aerial transports, each capable of carrying up to  400 combat-equipped troops, 472 specialized crew, and over a thousand tons of mechanized equipment,  armament and supplies to last for 30 days. All 1201s would be equipped with conventional  landing gear and operate from paved runways. But for an aircraft of this size, the  runway requirements would be absolutely massive.

So engineers proposed a novel solution. For maximum operational flexibility, the carrier and LSAs will be fully equipped for Short Take  Off And Landings. Dozens of auxiliary turbofan engines will be housed within the wings and  forward fuselage.

Each capable of delivering an impressive 82 thousand pounds of vertical thrust. Four enormous high-bypass turbofans would supply an additional six hundred thousand pounds of  thrust, and allow the massive 1201s to cruise at about the same speed as a modern jet transport. But once over the staging area, the carrier and LSA’s would need to loiter for extended  periods.

Remaining continuously airborne for up to 30 days. So, Lockheed's engineers  turned to another unconventional solution. At the heart of every CL-1201 is a 30-foot diameter, eighteen thousand megawatt nuclear reactor, similar to the kind already used  on nuclear submarines, only much larger.

The Air Force and Atomic Energy Commission  have spent decades testing systems for nuclear powered aircraft engines, and now these  technologies will finally come to a head. During take-off and landings the 1201’s  cruise engines will run on standard jet fuel, and it’s only above sixteen thousand feet  that they will be switched to nuclear power. Each engine is fitted with a heat exchanger  and can operate on either jet fuel, or heat from the reactor.

Coolant loops  both inside and outside of a containment vessel will transfer heat from the reactor core  while safely containing radioactive materials. Radiation exposure will be limited by shielding  and the reactor’s containment vessel would be housed inside an impact absorbing structure. A minimum sixteen thousand foot altitude for nuclear-powered operations was selected on the  basis that it would provide sufficient time for reactor shut-down in the event of an accident.

Engineers are confident that the reactor will be fail-safe, even in a head-on impact with  a granite mountain. Assuming a prior 20-second shut-down warning. Now how’s that for safety?

Along with the carrier and LSA’s, a number of conventional jet transports  would also make their way to the staging area to support the assault force. Over the staging area, the LSA’s would be joined by smaller military transport aircraft referred to  as Medium Inter-theatre Transports, or MIT’s. The MIT’s would rendezvous with the LSAs, docking  in mid-flight to transfer troops, weaponry and supplies.

The MIT’s would then connect to the  LSA’s via a tow line, and remain on stand-by. The 1201’s blended wing design would make  it an ideal platform for mid-air docking and transfer. And with the assault force in place,  combat operations would begin immediately.

Working in conjunction with allied forces on the  ground, carrier based attack aircraft would clear enemy defenses to establish a secure airfield. Next, the MITs would begin shuttling troops and equipment between the LSA’s and the airfield,  protected by carrier-based fighter aircraft. Aircraft this large would be high-value  targets.

But Lockheed's engineers weren't expecting adversaries to get anywhere near them. By operating at 30,000 feet, and at least 600 nautical miles from enemy forces,  it would be virtually impossible for the enemy to approach unobserved. But should the enemy attempt to engage, they’d have to contend with an impressive  range of counter-air aircraft, long and short range missiles, and of course, laser weapons.

After establishing a sizable presence on the ground, American troops, working with allied  forces, could stabilize the situation within 30 days, and reopen the Mediterranean Sea for  a larger conventional ocean-going Naval force. I hope this video has proved informative. As you  can see, the CL-1201 is an entirely new class of aircraft and a new means of delivering a  rapid response strike to anywhere in the world.

Keeping America and her allies safe. It's not clear what prompted such an unusual design study. Was it a strategic threat?

A need to assess the limits of aerospace technology? Or was Lockheed simply  keeping its summer interns busy. What’s clear is that there are many unanswered  questions.

Not just technical and engineering, but basic questions, like, how the fighters  were supposed to be re-armed during combat? Or how they would of docked with massive wake  turbulence coming off the carrier’s wings The deeper you dig, the more bizarre it seems  to get. But without Lockheed’s original report, we’ll probably never get the answers.

And in the context of the Cold War, the 1201 is just one of hundreds of highly  speculative designs, many of which weren't really supposed to answer questions, but  help find the questions yet to be answered. But even among these countless conceptual designs, the 1201 stands out as one of  the most unusual ever produced. On an early morning in February 1993, something  extraordinary lights up the sky over Europe.

A mysterious beam of light,  brighter than a full moon. And it moves silently for thousands of kilometers, from the southern coast of  France all the way to Belarus. On the ground, it looks like an anomaly. 

But it’s part of an experiment, so unusual, it seems straight out of science fiction. You’re talking about something  which is several miles across. There could eventually be a whole  network of these cosmic spotlights.

They will transform perpetual night into…daylight. Decades ago, Soviet scientists set  out to create eternal sunlight. And it’s hard to understand why years  later, no one seems to remember.

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