Boeing’s military seaplane boasts 50,000-pound cargo capacity, 213-foot wings

Aurora Flight Sciences, owned by Boeing, has released a new render video showcasing its advanced Liberty Lifter wing-in-ground-effect aircraft.

The design is being developed for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The idea shown in the video can fly ground effect to enhance efficiency and provide quick, heavy-lift transportation without the need for an airfield or shipping port.

According to Aurora’s statement, the program “aims to design, build, float, and fly an affordable X-plane that demonstrates revolutionary heavy-airlift capability from the sea. ”

The Liberty Lifter concept may aid fast logistics missions. It offers enhanced capabilities for sea-based search and rescue operations and improved disaster response efficiency across challenging maritime environments.

High-speed airlift

In a DARPA project launched in 2022, Aurora Flight Sciences and General Atomics were tasked with developing separate versions of a transport aircraft that leverages the wing-in-ground effect.

This phenomenon traps air beneath the wings when flying near the ground or water, increasing range and enabling heavy load transport at high speeds, around 100 feet (30 m) above the surface.

Unlike earlier Soviet Ekranoplan models, the new aircraft can fly at altitudes up to 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and operate in rough sea conditions.

Designed for military and emergency relief missions, it aims to carry cargo comparable to a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, operate in sea state 4 (waves 1.25 to 2.5 meters), and offer a ferry range of 6,500 nautical miles (7,480 miles, 12,000 kilometers).

Modern cargo aircraft

Aurora Flight Sciences is constructing a 213-foot wingspan demonstrator that can transport up to 50,000 pounds (22,679 kilograms) of cargo as part of the program’s Phase I.

The Liberty Lifter X- plane ‘s unrefueled range can be increased by operating it in standard flight at elevations of up to 10,000 feet and in ground effect very near the ocean’s surface.

The technology developed and shown on the X-plane would be applicable to future aircraft with a cargo capacity of 180,000 pounds (81,646 kilograms), which is comparable to that of a C-17.

For this project, Gibbs & Cox, a renowned naval architecture and marine engineering firm owned by Leidos, has teamed up with Aurora. The team’s goal is to create a flying boat that can operate in ground effect up to Sea State 5 and take off and land up to Sea State 4.

According to Aurora, to prove affordability, the boat will be made using low-cost manufacturing techniques from the shipbuilding sector.

Advanced testing

The program’s Phase 1B, which is now underway, consists of testing operations and ends with a preliminary design assessment.

At Virginia Tech and Stevens Institute of Technology, tow tank testing up to Sea State 4 has been finished in order to develop and validate hydrodynamic models and seakeeping performance.

According to the firm, testing on the characterization of propeller performance was finished in advance of a scale model’s wind tunnel testing in early 2025.

The group is also building a cockpit simulation facility to test pilot interaction with an enhanced control system for flying in ground effect over high sea conditions using human factors.

“The next phase of the program, Phase 2, includes continued development leading up to critical design review. Phase 3 of the program, projected to begin in 2026, includes manufacturing the demonstrator followed by flight testing starting in 2028,” said the Aurora, in a statement .