A method is provided for reducing vulnerability to hostile detection of and aggression
towards an aircraft. The method includes adapting an aircraft fuselage to form
an armored payload bay, wherein the armored payload bay includes a pair of sidewalls
and a bottom. The method additionally includes adapting wings of the aircraft to
allow the aircraft to be transported within a larger aircraft. For example, the
wings could have a fixed wing span that allows the aircraft to transported within
a larger aircraft or the wings could be adapted to fold so that the aircraft can
transported within a larger aircraft. The method further includes disposing at
least one pulse ejector thrust augmentor (PETA) bank within each sidewall. Each
PETA bank is oriented such that a thrust exhaust produced is directed down and
away from a centerline of the payload bay. Still further, the method includes adapting
the bottom of payload bay to allow ingress and egress of cargo.
