{"id":70521,"date":"2025-07-09T16:03:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T16:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2025\/07\/09\/darpa-ends-cargo-seaplane-program-eyes-new-uses-for-tech\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:23:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:23:32","slug":"darpa-ends-cargo-seaplane-program-eyes-new-uses-for-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2025\/07\/09\/darpa-ends-cargo-seaplane-program-eyes-new-uses-for-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"DARPA ends cargo seaplane program, eyes new uses for tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has ended its experiment to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2024\/05\/10\/darpa-taps-aurora-to-keep-designing-heavy-cargo-seaplane-in-83m-deal\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2024\/05\/10\/darpa-taps-aurora-to-keep-designing-heavy-cargo-seaplane-in-83m-deal\/\">create a heavy cargo seaplane<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2023\/02\/02\/darpa-wants-a-heavy-cargo-plane-that-can-land-at-sea\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2023\/02\/02\/darpa-wants-a-heavy-cargo-plane-that-can-land-at-sea\/\">three-year-old Liberty Lifter program<\/a> was intended to design and build \u2014 and possibly float and fly \u2014 a long-range, low-cost seaplane that could take off and land in rough seas. DARPA said in 2023 that it wanted the plane to have roughly the same size and capacity as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DLX--prp8BR\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DLX--prp8BR\/\">C-17 Globemaster<\/a>, which can carry more than 170,000 pounds of cargo such as M1 Abrams tanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement to Defense News, DARPA confirmed it had concluded the Liberty Lifter program in June. <a href=\"https:\/\/aviationweek.com\/defense\/aircraft-propulsion\/darpa-ends-liberty-lifter-program\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/aviationweek.com\/defense\/aircraft-propulsion\/darpa-ends-liberty-lifter-program\">Aviation Week<\/a> first reported the ending of the Liberty Lifter program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ve learned we can build a flying boat capable of takeoff and landing in high sea states,\u201d program manager Christopher Kent said. \u201cThe physics make sense. And we\u2019ve learned we can do so with maritime building techniques and maritime composites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But DARPA said it will not move forward with building an aircraft, which would only be a demonstrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe think our findings validate the hypothesis we had going in: you can build platforms that fly significantly cheaper and at significantly more locations than we do today,\u201d Kent said. \u201cThis opens up a pathway for next generation aircraft to be built using far more efficient construction technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA also said more work needs to be done to blend maritime construction with aircraft certification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement to Defense News, Aurora said the technology it developed through the program will be used in years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThrough the Liberty Lifter program, we were able to show the viability of the design and the feasibility of novel manufacturing techniques,\u201d Aurora said. \u201cAurora is proud of the technical advancements we made through the preliminary design of Liberty Lifter, and we expect to apply these learnings to future programs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA first worked on Liberty Lifter with General Atomics and Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, which developed their own competing designs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA hoped creating a cargo seaplane could lead to new opportunities for the military and commercial organizations to conduct fast logistics missions, as well as develop innovative manufacturing techniques and materials to bring down the cost of building large aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA said it restructured the Liberty Lifter program in late 2023 to pull forward technical risk reduction activities. In early 2024, DARPA announced it had dropped General Atomics from the program and continued with Aurora\u2019s pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aurora and DARPA used simulations and tests of scaled models to demonstrate the seaplane\u2019s technical design, as well as building and stress-testing examples of the new methods and materials intended for the plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those simulations and tests showed the concept was viable, DARPA said, and the novel building methods one day could help dramatically cut the cost of building large aircraft. The agency is now working with industry and other stakeholders in the Defense Department to figure out how to rapidly field these technologies in other forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA confirmed it spent about $98 million in all on Liberty Lifter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Liberty Lifter was intended to design and build a seaplane with the cargo capacity of a C-17 Globemaster, that could take off and land in rough 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