( 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 can not 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 do n'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 , do n't . DARPA promises all ideas will stay inside the Pentagon . The deadline is November 26 . Now get to work .
Pentagon wants aerial platform to carry drones . Comment: Pentagon wants to use existing aircraft to launch and recover drones .