Motivation for Air-Launch: Past, Present, and Future

Abstract: Air-launch is defined as two or more air-vehicles joined and working together, that eventually separate in flight, and that have a combined performance greater than the sum of the individual parts. The use of the air-launch concept has taken many forms across civil, commercial, and military contexts throughout the history of aviation. Air-launch techniques have been applied for entertainment, movement of materiel and personnel, efficient execution of aeronautical research, increasing aircraft…