A U.S. Air Force MQ-1 Predator UAV assigned to the California Air National Guard's 163rd Reconnaissance Wing flies near the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville, California, on January 7, 2012. 
A model of of the European "Neuron" UAV at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, France in 2005. The UAV is an European Research project led by Dassault Aviation. 
An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) sits in a shelter at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, after a mission on November 10, 2008. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the Reaper can carry up to 3,750 pounds of laser-guided bombs and missiles. 
A British MQ-9 Reaper sits on a runway on March 17. Both British and American Reapers are deployed to Afghanistan. 
U.S. Marines perform operational checks on a Marine Squadron Two (VMU-2) UAV before a launch at Speed Bag Airfield, near Niland, California, on October 25, 2011. 
An Iranian-made drone is displayed during the Army Day celebrations in Tehran on April 18, 2010. 
A model of a surveillance drone built by Dassault Aviation and BAE Systems is displayed at the International Paris Air show in 2011. 
An Israeli Hermes 500 UAV flies over the Hatzerim air force base near Beersheva, Israel, during an air show at the graduation ceremony of Israeli pilots on June 30, 2011. 
Chinese visitors examine an unmanned helicopter drone at the China Aviation Expo in Beijing on September 21, 2011. 
Israeli soldiers prepare to launch a Skylark drone during a drill on January 16, 2012 near Bat Shlomo, Israel. The Skylark can carry a camera payload of up to 1 kilogram, has an operational ceiling of 15,000 feet, and allows users to monitor any designated point within a 15-kilometer radius. The Skylark unit consists of a ground control element and three drones, which provide battalion-level commanders with real-time information. 
An Israel Aerospace Industries UAV on display at the Singapore Airshow on February 15. 
A model of China's "Dark Sword" UAV. According to Jane's Defense & Security Intelligence & Analysis, the drone remains only a model, but offers an example of where China may go with its drone technology.
- Pentagon wants aerial platform to carry drones
- Defense Advanced Research Products Agency is seeking proposals
- Pentagon wants to use existing aircraft to launch and recover drones
(CNN) -- Got an idea on how to make a flying aircraft carrier? The Defense Department wants to know about it.
The Defense Advanced Research Products Agency has a request out for ideas on how to develop an airborne platform that could both launch and recover other aircraft.
But before you start looking for schematics of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701) or Battlestar Galactica, or how you might levitate the USS Nimitz, think a little smaller, like B-1, B-52 or C-130.
DARPA wants ideas on how to turn those aircraft currently in the Pentagon inventory into platforms that could carry Unmanned Aerial Systems, what most folks call drones, close to their targets. The drones could then go about their business -- bombing, missile strikes, reconnaissance, etc. -- then fly back to the mother ship and head for home.
This plan could add to the range of the drones and open up new missions they cannot now undertake because of their limited range, DARPA says.
As you consider your ideas, DARPA says you have to keep the cost low and they'd like something they could demonstrate within four years. And don't get long-winded. Your proposal should fit on eight, standard 8.5- x 11-inch pages in 11-point type.
And if you're worried your big plans will fall into the hands of your competitors, don't. DARPA promises all ideas will stay inside the Pentagon.
The deadline is November 26. Now get to work.
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