ZELL Mystery Ship Idea

[Cobra]

Hey Guys, What if a ZELL Equiped 'Mystery Ship' were Built by The Russians,Etc.? my Thought was Something that Looked like a Supertank or Freighter type Ship that Suddenly Revealed 3 sets of Launchers with Fighters,Attack Aircraft,and Bombers Ready to Attack. What Say You? Thanks for looking.Dan

[KJ_Lesnick]

Cobra,

Well, battleships in the old days usually did carry a few small aircraft.  This would be a modern version of the same concept

[PR19_Kit]

That'd be a stelath version of the Arapaho idea I guess. Think 'Atlantic Conveyor' with a roof over the aircraft deck.....

[dy031101]

I was thinking of a scaled-up version of missile-destroyer-like ship, with positions previously occupied by SAM launchers now having trainable multiple catapult launcher for modified CTOL fighters (expendable upon end of mission).  

[PR19_Kit]

But how do you recover the ZELL launched aircraft? Or are they 'expendable', like the CAM ship Hurricanes?

[Weaver]

RATOVL, i.e. a "Harrier" with a ZELL rocket? Gets around the takeoff weight limit of vectored-thrust VTO, but still allows a vertical landing.

[PR19_Kit]

RATOVL, i.e. a "Harrier" with a ZELL rocket? Gets around the takeoff weight limit of vectored-thrust VTO, but still allows a vertical landing.

That'd work, yes. You should try selling that idea to the RAF and FAA.....

Ah no, they haven't got any Harriers left any more.

[KJ_Lesnick]

PR-19 Kit,

That's exactly the problem.  Unless the ship was close to shore, there was a carrier nearby, or those aircraft were seaplanes, you'd be in serious trouble, and if they were seaplanes, you'd just put them in the water and let 'em rip.

[Cobra]

i was thinking a Combo of VTOL & Sea Dart Type Aircraft for Fight and Attack Roles,with Something like a Sea Master for Bomber Duty! What Say You? Dan

[jcf]

Submarine aircraft carriers seem to fit your notion:

Lots of info available here:
http://www.up-ship.com/eAPR/ev1n6.htm

[Weaver]

PR-19 Kit,

That's exactly the problem.  Unless the ship was close to shore, there was a carrier nearby, or those aircraft were seaplanes, you'd be in serious trouble, and if they were seaplanes, you'd just put them in the water and let 'em rip.

Then again, for seaplanes, rocket launching from a ship would have a much shorter reaction time than craning a seaplane into the water, particularly in bad weather. Recovery is still an issue though.

Another issue with all these is the supply of launch rockets. The original ZELL proposal was for one-and-only-shot tactical nuclear strike aircraft, but for a carrier you'd be looking at sustained operations. That's a LOT of boosters, and they arn't small......

[thesolitarycyclist]

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/david-mace/fire-lance.htm

Check out this book. The ship in the book is the USS Vindicator which has catapult launched supersonic fighters and helicopters if my memory is correct and the back story is set post nuclear exchange between the US and Soviet Union.

[lenny100]

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/david-mace/fire-lance.htm

Check out this book. The ship in the book is the USS Vindicator which has catapult launched supersonic fighters and helicopters if my memory is correct and the back story is set post nuclear exchange between the US and Soviet Union.

been looking for that book since 1989 but couldnt ever remember the title, thanks now got a copy on order

[thesolitarycyclist]

The author has a web page

http://www.davidmace.co.uk/index.php

[Mossie]

The US Navy had ideas on ZELL, one of them was to launch an aircraft then recover it by flying it onto a trapeze at a high angle of attack.  The aircraft were often 'nutcrackers', that is the cockpit section pivoted to give better visibility.  You could use this kind of system on a 'mystery' ship, have modified cargo sections on the ship to hold the aircraft.  When needed, a lid opens & a rail pivots to launch the aircraft.