SOMETHING IN THE AIR......

An aircraft that can fly to any location on Earth; without need of any airport to operate from.
It needs no runway; landing and taking off vertically from unprepared fields, from icefields, desert sands, heavy shrublands, from lakes, rivers; even from the surface of the ocean.
It has no range limitations.
It can fly over oceans, mountains, continents, or around the world.
It is slower than commercial jets; but faster than trucks, trains, or marine ships.
It can carry hundreds of passengers, or hundreds of tons of cargos.
It can do all this without using fuel at all.

NEW NAVY SHIPS OF THE AIR

Hindenburg, Akron, Macon....all about 800' long, about 130' in diameter, all carried about 100 tons, at about 70mph, diesel fueled.

Modern Nimitz class aircraft carrier is about 1,100 feet long, 250 wide, about 40mph, nuclear fueled.

This is what the Navy needs:
Rigid shelled, amphibious airships.
600' long, 360' wide.
500 persons,
150-200mph,
solar powered.

fast. stealthy. over sea, over land.

No blimps!

(sigh..and here we GO...)

No blimps, no blimps, no blimps, NO blimps, NO BLIMPS, NO!

No mooring masts.
No slow, big fat bags of helium
No ground crews handling line lines to land or take off.
No giant hangars.

No Blimps, (or zeppelin-like similar craft)

Aw, hells bells people.....
NO BLOODY BLOOMIN BLIMPS!

SOLAR POWERED FLIGHT QinetiQ

QinetiQ's ZEPHYR will eventually lead to larger aircraft that are solar powered. Very large rigid airships for the Navy are an ideal application.

STEALTH

early 1980s', as part of training exercise, RAF jets were hunting for a blimp flying over London on a dark and rainy night. Couldn't find it. radar couldn't see it. Blimp sailed at about 1,000', directly OVER Buckingham Palace.

It's really pretty simple. the blimp is made of fabric covered with urethane. radar passes through it, just as it passes through a radome. (radome. hold that thought)

late 1980's, Lockheed Martin builds "Sea Shadow".......built much like an F-117, on a SWATH hull. Now, it´s still classified, but we can assume that it was constructed much like an F-117 as well, that is...with lots of carbon fiber, some interior faceting that causes electromagnetic waves to be absorbed or reflected in directions that minimize detection.
Fine. nice stealty craft, as ship go.

Ah....but what if it could FLY?

No wake. No sonar signature at all. Very little infra-red signature. built in the same manner, so still minimal radar detectable. bury the engines deep inside it and have no acoustic signature either. change from engines...to electric motors, same as quiet AIP submarines. except, this can move through the air at speeds several times faster than a surface ship.......and then, across land as well.

Is a stealthy airship a real possiblity? certainly. (remember the radome) and check back......in 1999, Lockheed Martin announced they had designed an airship ¨the size of two soccer fields¨ and shaped similar to the B-2 bomber.....

me....I think that P-791 is not really a POS...it´s just an expensive bit of ..............disinformation. cute!

SHOOT IT DOWN!

Nope. Can't do it. If you think so, then you believe you can can shoot and kill a whale with a .22
It's just about the same.

There are accounts of "Goodyear blimps" landing after a day of flying; the guys get inside the envelope and see little stars shining through.......bullet holes. (yes, some idiots are always trying to plug a blimp)...why didn't the blimp come down? Because the pressure inside is to little to force the helium out, and because the blimp is to large.

During World War I, giant Zeppelins bombing London were strafed with machine guns down their entire 700' lengths from airplanes flying overhead. Until the introduction of tracer rounds which would set the hydrogen gas on fire......several stricken airships simply flew back over the English Channel and set down gradually onto the ground. They had to be destroyed afterwards by their crews.

Nope. Can't just simply "shoot it down". Why not?

Mostly because its just to damn big. Thousands of holes caused by ground fire might make it leak helium; but it has so much volume that it doesn't fall out of the sky. It flies on, miles from the intitial point of damage. If it is carrying sufficient ballast which can be jetisoned, it does that and keeps on operating despite the damage.

Second reason is that the helium is in multiple cells, (unlike a blimp, which is a single large balloon). Damage to a single cell, or even several, is unlikely to be enough to bring the airship down.,

A third reason is one that is never thought of......which is that the helium inside that is holding the airship up....only wants to go straight up. Holes in the sides of an airship caused by ground fire are completely not relevant. The helium will not travel DOWNWARDS toward a hole to leak out.

Missiles? Unlike an airplane, an airship does not rely upon engines to keep it in the air. It can lose engines completely; it will still fly.

There are many reasons why airships are well protected against attacks by missiles; we'll discuss them at a later time.

For now, simply consider the size of the airship compared to the lethal radius of a missile warhead. It's like trying to blow up a football stadium with a hand grenade. Or, like trying to kill that whale with a .22

Nope. Can't be done. You cannot just "shoot down" a proper airship.

And that is one reason why the Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force....all need AIRSHIPS!

MISCONCEPTIONS

Mention the word "airship" in concert with the word "military", and it is almost certain to get a raised eyebrow, a curt remark, a chuckle, a loud laugh......Why is this? Because "airship" has meant "blimp" for the last 60 years.

It's time to leave "blimp" behind, where it belongs.