THE world’s largest plane dubbed “Skytanic” which can carry 12 times more than a Boeing 747 is being eyed up by the US military.
Officially called WindRunner, the colossal aircraft is set to carry cargo in the skies by 2030 – but could be used for a different purpose by the army.
The US military is collaborating with the designers of the world’s largest plane[/caption]
The military could give the incredible jet a new purpose[/caption] 
WindRunner will clock in at an incredible 356ft – longer than the pitch at Wembley – and will be 79ft tall.
The company behind it, Radia, has already been working on the plans for almost a decade.
While it will be a versatile vehicle, the size and shape of WindRunner have been carefully designed to accommodate one specific item: wind turbines.
Wind turbine blades are enormous and incredibly tricky to transport on roads, and normal planes are too small to handle them.
But now the US military have made a collaboration with the swanky new plane’s designers, the jets could serve a different purpose.
The agreement between Radia and the Department of Defence will look to assess if the plane’s capacity can transport different types of cargo.
This could include all sorts of things – including space launch materials, oversized equipment and humanitarian aid.
The military will also try to evaluate airfield sustainability, ground handling procedure and necessary infrastructure needed for WindRunner operations.
Another part of the deal will have the military analyse the plane’s performance in different types of operational scenarios.
This will allow the Department of Defence to see how the “Skytanic” could help them logistically in the future.
Radia Founder and CEO Mark Lundstrom said: “The WindRunner allows the world’s biggest things to be delivered to the hardest-to-reach locations.
“This collaboration demonstrates how commercial capabilities may help to support US national defense by integrating with and addressing military needs.”
He added that with the Department of Defence, his firm would explore solutions for transporting high-volume cargo which outsizes most other cargo aircraft.
The US military said this collaboration will inform future strategy decisions.
It would also give better options for operational planning and potentially provide them with dual-use civilian and military planes.
The plane’s initial goal of transporting wind turbines came due to the current struggle companies face when delivering them.
Some turbine projects have even needed special roads to be laid to get the blades there.
And the blades are expected to get even bigger in the future – possibly growing from 230ft to 330ft.
So, with the help of rocket scientist Lundstrom, the Radia team looked for a solution.
WindRunner will be able to carry whole blades in its cargo space, and fly them right to the construction site.
To make landing easier, the plane has been designed so that it can touch down on short, dirt runways – rather than requiring a fully operational airport.
Radia said: “WindRunner’s unique capabilities not only allow it to meet the requirements of today’s airlift missions but also allow it to open the aperture of what is possible to move by air.”
Radia hopes to have WindRunner in the skies by 2030.
When it takes off for the first time, it will be the biggest-ever plane to do so.
The second-largest was a Ukrainian jet called Mriya, meaning “the dream”, which was destroyed by Russia at the beginning of its invasion.
And WindRunner will have uses beyond just transporting wind turbine blades – opening up new transport opportunities to industries from business to defence.
Lundstrom said: “There’s an entire other classification of big things that have not yet been invented.
“The engineers of the world, and the product development people of the world, don’t even try to invent bigger things if they know that they can never be transported.”
