Popular Mechanics
Last week, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced a new project, one that should be familiar to aircraft—and ship—geeks. The Liberty Lifter seaplane transport will harness the “wing-in-ground effect” (WIG) that Soviet-era aircraft, including the infamous “Caspian Sea Monster,” utilized to carry cargo thousands of miles, across distances such as the Indian and Pacific oceans. Although the technology has been tried and abandoned, DARPA seems to think it deserves a second look.