DARPA Will Develop Ground-Effect Vehicles

DARPA Will Develop Ground-Effect Vehicles

On August 18, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued a request for information (RFI) to the industry in search of technology that would aid in the development of new ground-effect vehicles (GEVs). It may travel across the surface by obtaining support from the responses of the air against the surface of the land or water. It is also known as a wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vehicle, ground-effect craft, wingship, flarecraft, or ekranoplan. According to sources, the US military wants something more quicker than ships and with a greater payload than Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) and other marine aircraft.  DARPA is interested in developing a new vehicle class that overcomes the primary operating constraints of existing air and sea lift platforms. It is currently looking for novel GEV concepts that can achieve higher aerodynamic efficiency while addressing several of the operational constraints of existing sea and airlift platforms in maritime theatres. DARPA hig…