China has plans for a colossal orbital carrier system.

The new Chinese concept for military is the colossal orbital carrier. The future shows. Whether. It is only propagandistic. Or a real system. The shape of that system could be different. But we know. That. There is a possibility. To drop quadcopters in the heat shield from the satellites or space shuttles. And things like hypersonic missiles and fighter-drones. They can also be installed in the orbital tanks, which release them. When. The command is given. 

The fact is that. The idea of the flying aircraft carriers is not new. In the 1930s, the U.S. Navy tested two airships. That could carry a small aircraft. The problem was that technology and materials were not at the same level as those ideas. And another of those flying carriers was destroyed in a storm. The plane that those airships, named Macon and Akron, used was the Curtiss F9C “Sparrowhawk”. 

The aircraft was not as good. As. It should be. So. Those projects are buried. But sometimes. An idea was introduced. That. The blips can carry quadcopters for reconnaissance and attack missions. 

But then. In the 1950s and 1980s, the USAF planned to create so-called parasite fighters. The problem with long-range bombers was that their flight time was longer than that of their escort fighters. That caused the idea. The long-range bomber could carry aircraft under its wings. When enemy interceptors rise to defense, those parasite fighters are released. In. 

“Firebee” drones under DC-130 mothership. 

The 1980’s. Boeing Aircraft Corporation. Had plans to build. The Boeing 747-based solution. Called Boeing 747 Aiborne Aircraft Carrier. AAC. To carry the fighters inside it. Those plans terminated. But then. The drones brought new ideas for the flying aircraft carriers. There is a possibility that the cruise missiles and unmanned drones can be dropped from cargo planes.

Modified C-130. The DC-130 could carry.  Remote-controlled Teledryne Rayan BQM-34 “Firebee “ drones. Which could be equipped with the missiles. In the same way. There is a possibility of carrying drone swarms in cargo planes and dropping them into an operational area. 

“Firebee” fires “Maverick” missile. 

When we think about the drones and orbital aircraft carriers. A space shuttle. It can carry smaller shuttles or drones. The miniature shuttle can operate as a hypersonic kamikaze drone. The space shuttle can also operate as a regular supersonic or hypersonic jet fighter. The shuttle can be launched from the carrier system. And then it can dive into the atmosphere. The atmosphere can slow their speed. And if those systems use the ramjet-turbojet hybrid technology, they can operate. As well as speeds over Mach 4-5, and at subsonic speeds. The system requires only separated ramjet and turbojet engines. 

The orbital systems can also deliver quadcopters that are put in the heat shield. The satellite can drop those drones through the atmosphere. The orbital aircraft carrier can look like a regular rocket. Or. Abandoned rocket stage. The miniature shuttles or other drones can be put. In. The hangar. That is made in that structure. The space stations can also support small-sized shuttles. 

Chinese video of their plans. 

https://aeropedro.despair.ch/Aeropedro/Firebee.html

https://futurism.com/future-society/china-space-drone-carrier

https://www.slashgear.com/1945236/boeing-747-flying-aircraft-carrier-history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Akron

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_F9C_Sparrowhawk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Macon_(ZRS-5)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Firebee