History Main / AirborneAircraftCarrier

** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FICON_project FICON (FIghter CONveyor) Project]]: Putting an F-84 fighter inside the bomb bay of a B-36 and using the former to deliver a tactical nuke. Shortly thereafter repurposed for reconnaissance, with a few GRB-36D refitted to carry the faster RF-84K, allowing the recon-fighter to conduct recon of sites too heavily-defended for a big lumbering converted bomber to approach. The RF-84 still had machine guns, so it could play a dual role protecting the mothership from enemy interceptors. Got a few flights in before the U-2 came along and the B-36 became obsolete. Determined to be an idea that worked better in theory than in practice.

** [[https://pacificcoastairmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/d21-drone-pcam-04.jpg The B-52 would similarly be used later on to launch D-21 recon drones]] which would fly out on a preprogrammed path, take pictures, and fly back to a rendezvous location where another plane trailing a net (usually a modified transport) would catch the drone in midair and reel it in. At least, in theory that was how it was supposed to work; the D-21 has a very poor success record,with only four out of 17 launched being recovered.

** The Soviets also conducted their own experiments in the 1930s called the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zveno_project Zveno Project]], and unlike the other "parasite fighters" mentioned here they were actually used in battle. Tupolev heavy bombers TB-1 or TB-3 (slow, but with 2000 km range and 8 ton capacity) would carry 2-5 little fighters-bombers I-4, I-5, I-Z or I-16 (decent speed for late 1930s, but only 600-800 km range). [[http://lemur59.ru/sites/default/files/images/варианты.jpg See possible configurations.]] Some configurations even allowed an I-Z or I-16 to dock under the mother craft after the mission. The most successful version was TB-3 with a pair of I-16 mounted under carrier's wings in place of bombs. [[http://lemur59.ru/node/8819 See more photos.]] The interceptor variant was supposed to cut calling fighters time from "scramble and climb all the way up there" to "release bomb locks". The dive bomber variant had a long-range bomber carrying two fighters armed with bombs too heavy for them to take off on their own. These teams flew more than 30 missions, being among the most successful in Soviet aviation. The project ended in 1942 due to the wear of the involved machines and because newer models, such as Pe-2, made them obsolete. You can fly the Zveno aircraft cluster in ''VideoGame/IL2Sturmovik''.

** The Daimler-Benz Project C was a proposed plan from Nazi Germany for a massive bomber-like aircraft that would carry six-to-eight parasite fighters on the wings and fuselage that would be detached and launched in-flight. These jet or rocket propelled aircraft were at first conceptualized as fighters, but later iterations of these aircraft became human-guided bombs for targeting bridges, ships and bomber formations. While these bombs would have escape chutes underneath them, the likelihood of escaping alive was so low that they may as well be categorized as suicide aircraft. However, none of the Daimler-Benz Projects ever got off of the drawing board.
** Thanks to [[TechnologyMarchesOn new technology]], the concept is being looked at again, only this time the carried aircraft [[http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/11/tech/innovation/flying-aircraft-carrier/ would be drones]] rather than traditional fighters.
* [[http://www.nasdaq.com/article/its-official-darpa-will-build-a-flying-aircraft-carrier-cm517169 DARPA started investigating the idea in 2015 with surveillance drones.]]

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' gives us the ''USS Argo'', a massive flying fortress that serves as a mobile headquarters for Monarch. She is capable of carrying a complement of multiple V-22 Ospreys that can be used to both deploy troops and conduct evacuations. In addition, she also boasts an impressive array of weapons, and while they may not be enough to kill any of the {{Kaiju}}, they still hurt enough to at least get their attention.

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' gives us ''The Argo'', a massive flying fortress sent out to battle King Ghidorah and Rodan.

* The OSI from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' have a mobile fortress called the Hoverquarters which is very much like the SHIELD Hellicarrier making sense since the Venture's OSI is a parody of SHIELD.

** [[https://pacificcoastairmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/d21-drone-pcam-04.jpg The B-52 would similarly be used later on to launch D-21 recon drones]] which would fly out on a preprogrammed path, take pictures, and fly back to a rendezvous location where another plane trailing a net (usually a modified transport) would catch the drone in midair and reel it in.