A KC-130 drops a cargo pallet from its rear ramp during training exercises in Texas in February 2026. Under the “Dragon Cart” program, the pallet could be replaced by a missile, which would then launch independently of the aircraft. (US Marine Corps/Cpl. Anabelle Reed-O’Brien)

‘Dragon Cart’: Inside the Program to Give US Cargo Planes Standoff Missiles

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The United States has hundreds of unarmed transport aircraft, which would be far more useful if they could be transformed into strike platforms in a pinch.

The US Air Force is one step closer to equipping lumbering cargo planes with advanced stand-off munitions that can strike with precision targets thousands of miles away. 

The Department of Defense formally approved the Air Force’s Dragon Cart program, and it will likely receive funding in upcoming defense budgets.  

The Dragon Cart program seeks to transform slow transport aircraft into powerful strike platforms that can hold high-value adversary targets in threat and increase the utility of the........

© The National Interest