Parasite aircraft
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B52_and_X43.jpg
B52_and_X43.jpg
An example of a parasite aircraft is the Boeing X-43 being dropped from under the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress.
A parasite aircraft is an aircraft which is carried underneath, and air launched by a mothership aircraft.
The first use for parasite aircraft was in 1918, when the British used a Sopwith Camel, flying from an airship. This eventually developed into modern jet bombers, carrying fully capable fighter aircraft. In some cases, these aircraft are able to return to their mothership. As fighter capabilities increased, this role was seen as less and less necessary.
Other uses include launching spacecraft, experimental aircraft, and manned and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
Famous examples include (but are not restricted to):
- HMA 23/Camel, the first parasite fighter, flying from an airship (1918)
- USS Akron and Macon/F9C, a very successful U.S. Navy escort fighter program, ended when the airships crashed (1925)
- TB-2/SPB, the first parasite aircraft to see combat (1941)
- Do 217E/Me 328, escort fighter, unsuccessful due to engine problems
- Betty/Ohka, a Japanese kamikaze aircraft, which caused extensive damage to opposing forces (1945)
- B-29/X-1, research into supersonic flight (1947)
- B-36/XF-85, an attempt to equip bombers with their own escort fighters (1948)
- B-29/X-2, Mach 2.0 flight (1952)
- B-36/F-84, another, more successful, escort fighter attempt (1952)
- B-52/X-15, for research into high-Mach flight (1960)
- B-52/X-24, lifting body research (1969)
- SR-71/D-21, for high-speed reconnaissance (1963)
- Boeing 747/Space Shuttle Enterprise, for landing tests (1977)
- L-1011/Pegasus, for satellite launches (1990)
- White Knight/SpaceShipOne, as part of the Tier One privately-funded suborbital system (2004)
- B-52/X-43 Hyper-X, a hypersonic research test article
- White Knight/X-37, for DARPA's spaceplane project
See also: parasite fighter