Any Stealthy Troop Glider Designs?

[ChuckAnderson]

Hi Everyone!

Has anyone ever designed anything like a stealthy troop glider, (e.g. something like a 21st Century Waco CG-4?)

Would it be towed in the traditional way, or would they be dropped by mother planes?

These new troop gliders could fly into their landing zones silently and almost invisible to radar.

I can imagine these stealthy troop gliders on missions to several points inside Iran, where troops would be dispatched to follow-up air attacks made by Israeli Air Force aircraft on those Iranian nuclear facilities.

I'm just curious as to what designs our fellow What-Iffers could come up with for this type of aircraft.


Chuck

[Madoc]

Chuck,

Not a troop stealth glider but a troop stealth transport is what I heard of a few years back.  Some bright lads with keen eyes, active imaginations, and lots of time on their hands did an immense amount of data sifting when they went through several years of US DoD budgets.  Buried amongst all that were some nondescript but interesting little tidbits from which they teased out the evidence of the Air Force having developed a stealth transport aircraft.

They based this on a budget line item here, another one over there, the fact that this group of budget line items happened to be listed in the same section as where the F-117's original listings had first sprung up, that the items on the budget seemed a bit much for simple replacement parts or general inventory stuff.  Very much a jigsaw puzzle assembly job and it could all be way, way off base.

Or it could all be right on the money.

If their guess is right, then the US developed a jet powered small "low observable" transport aircraft that was big enough for about a platoon of Special Forces and their gear.  The thing was apparently a STOL bird so as to effect its insertion missions without the need of nice runways out there in "Indian Country."

None of this has ever been confirmed nor even "officially denied" yet.  But, given the amount of effort the US put into developing stealth strike bombers, stealth fighter planes, and stealth intercontinental bombers, it would also have made sense that we at least tried to develop some sort of stealth transport aircraft to.

Perhaps in a few years the program will eventually come out of the Black and we'll see for ourselves.

Or perhaps it will forever remain but a mystery, wrapped in an enigma and hidden under a question....

Madoc

[B777LR]

I think the WACO glider was very low visible on radar from the start. Just a metal frame, covered with cloth. Should be a very low signature though...

[GTX]

I can imagine these stealthy troop gliders on missions to several points inside Iran, where troops would be dispatched to follow-up air attacks made by Israeli Air Force aircraft on those Iranian nuclear facilities.

And I can imagine those same troops wanting to also get out again - hence why a glider wouldn't be a good idea.

Regards,

Greg

[PR19_Kit]

I think the WACO glider was very low visible on radar from the start. Just a metal frame, covered with cloth. Should be a very low signature though...

Of course you could make it ALL from wood to minimise the radar sig even more, round off the corners a bit for even more stealth and perhaps make it a bit bigger while you're about it.

You could call it an 'Airspeed Horsa' perhaps?

[jcf]

Of course you could make it ALL from wood to minimise the radar sig even more, round off the corners a bit for even more stealth and perhaps make it a bit bigger while you're about it.

You could call it an 'Airspeed Horsa' perhaps?

It wasn't quite ALL wood, the instruments were metal and glass and there were the clear panels of the
windscreen and troop compartment windows.

Also it came ready to assemble in a really large box. 

Jon

[PR19_Kit]

Jon,

Also it came ready to assemble in a really large box. 

Indeed, and then they put wings on the box and called it a Hamilcar............!  

[B777LR]

Could be gliders in and helicopters out. That'd mean no waiting around on the ground for the transport helicopters.

Of course, a full list of other reasons why gliders wouldn't be a good idea will be rather long 

Lol, considering the glider needs to be towed by a C-130 anyway, you might as well just use the parachute

[NARSES2]

[Also it came ready to assemble in a really large box. 

Jon

Don't tell Aircav that he'll want one