Aerocon Dash 1.6 wingship

The Aerocon Dash-1.6 wingship was a proposed American ground-effect vehicle intended to carry large cargos and thousands of passengers over long distances at near-aircraft speeds.

The vehicle was claimed to be able to carry a combination of 1,500 short tons (1,400 t; 3,000,000 lb; 1,400,000 kg) of cargo and 2,000 passengers a distance of 11,500 miles (18,500 km; 10,000 nmi) at speeds close to those of commercial airliners.

[1] The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) evaluated the Aerocon design, along with submissions from several other manufacturers, as part of a preliminary study of the concept during the 1990s to determine whether a billion-dollar program was viable, to develop a wingship for military uses.

[2][3][4] By the end of 1994, the Department of Defense decided that the design was too high a risk and did not offer further funding.

[5] Data from W. I.: Technology Roadmap, Appendix C - Structures, page C-4 – C-6General characteristics Performance