DARPA announced designs from General Atomics and Aurora Flight Systems were selected for the prototype phase for the Liberty Lifter project. Through this project, DARPA wants to produce an ekranoplane that carries a large cargo capacity.
The General Atomics design looks a bit strange as it consists of two fuselages connected to giant wings. Meanwhile, the Aurora design looks more like a flying boat plane that was popular in the early 20th century.
In the first phase of the Liberty Lifter, the refined design to meet the mission needs to be completed within 18 months. After that in the second phase, the design will be further refined before the prototype is produced around 2024. DARPA's requirement is that the Liberty Lifter needs to carry around 100 tons of cargo, travel up to 12,000 km and have the same size as a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.
Ekranoplan is not an airplane even though it has wings. It floats on the surface of the air trapped under large wings as it moves. The ekranoplan system was popularized in the Soviet Union during the Cold War as it was designed to carry cargo as well as be a missile launch platform.