Ambitious waterborne cargo aircraft project canceled, but its technologies will be reused in other initiatives
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The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has announced the termination of the Liberty Lifter program, its heavy-lift ground-effect aircraft development initiative. Launched in 2023, the project aimed to build an aircraft with a range of up to 12,000 km and payload capacity of 100 tons, similar to the C-17 Globemaster III, flying just 30 meters above the water’s surface.
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Developed by General Atomics and Aurora Flight Sciences (a Boeing subsidiary), the Liberty Lifter underwent computational modeling and materials testing. However, even after restructuring, DARPA decided not to proceed with building the prototype, which had been scheduled for 2027–2028.
Despite the cancellation, the technological advancements made during the project are expected to be repurposed for other defense programs. According to an official statement, the lessons learned from the Liberty Lifter still hold significant strategic value.
Interestingly, the end of the U.S. project coincides with the appearance of images on Chinese social media suggesting possible tests of a Chinese ekranoplan in the Bohai Gulf. This highlights the renewed global interest in ground-effect vehicles, although with different approaches among world powers.
Source and images: AeroTime | AviaNews Telegram @AviaCT | X @AuroraFlightSci. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
