the u.s air force has validated the key  concept that will drastically boost the  

service's firepower in wartime rapid dragon  an approach named after an 11th century  

chinese weapon system involves loading cruise  missiles on pallets the system could eventually  

lead to transport planes launching bigger  flying cargos including large attack drones

the air force tested the rapid dragon concept  earlier this month at eglin air force base in  

the western florida panhandle the test involved  loading a cruise missile flight test vehicle  

and several dummy missiles aboard a pallet rigged  with a parachute air dropping palletized cargos  

is not new to the air force which literally rolls  them out the back of the plane via the cargo ramp  

once the pallet exits the plane a parachute  deploys and the pallet floats gently to earth

rapid dragon is different  from the standard pallet drop  

as the pallet descends it orients  its missile cargo nose down  

the missiles fall out of their containers  pointing straight down the descent allows  

the missile's turbine engines to spin up the wings  to deploy and the missile to proceed to the target

rapid dragon is designed to fit in a six-pack  pallet for smaller c-130j super hercules transport  

planes and a nine pack for larger longer-range  c-17 globemaster 3s the video shows c-130s  

dropping two pallets each and c-17s dropping three  pallets each though with a cargo section length  

of 88 feet each moose is theoretically capable  of dropping up to five pallets or four to five  

missiles in addition to a parachute each pallet is  equipped with a control module that feeds target  

data to the missiles air crews will be able to  load target data into planes mid-flight allowing  

for changes in plans as the battle rages on if the  plane's targets are destroyed during the mission  

air force battle commanders could reroute  the missiles to new targets the main missile  

envision for rapid dragon is the agm-158 joint  air to surface standoff munition extended range  

or jasm er jazmir is a stealthy land attack cruise  missile capable of penetrating defended airspace  

flying around enemy defenses to strike targets  with a 000 pound wdu-42b penetrating warhead  

the missile has a range of 621 miles on x-day  20 c-17 transports are loaded with rapid dragon  

pallets the first attack weight consists of 20 b1  and b2 bombers loaded with 24 and 20 jasmbr each  

they strike chinese air defense systems on taiwan  and the mainland with a total of 560 missiles  

the c-17s loaded with 900 jasm er constitute the  second wave and hit port facilities airfields and  

other targets annihilating the chinese military's  ability to shuttle troops to the besieged island  

without supplies and reinforcements  chinese paratroopers and marines  

are eventually outnumbered in surrender rapid  dragon turns air force transports into bombers  

but the transformation isn't perfect transport  planes are not stealthy and are vulnerable to  

surface-to-air missiles and enemy fighters  jasm er long range will allow the transports  

to launch their missiles at a considerable  distance from enemy defenses helping ensure  

the plane's survival one question the rapid dragon  test raises does the air force need to stop there  

the service envisions its future fighter jets  escorted by smaller fighter-like robotic wingmen  

a c-17 could fly just behind the front lines  stacked with robo-wingmen loaded on pallets  

if friendly f-35 fighter jets need some quick  backup the transport could unload the wingmen  

which would join up with the man fighters if that  sounds far-fetched recall the time a c5 transport  

unloaded a 65 thousand pound 53-foot  long intercontinental ballistic missile