Message posted by loopbacktest4echo on May 18, 2009 at 9:47:13 PST:
For the sake of argument let me just throw some ideas on the table. First off, we are assuming that we are talking about a large next generation heavy lifting airship. It's outstanding features being it's stealth abilities and it's sheer size. Now if this airship reflects it's surroundings it may well be able to land and look like a hanger or a building or even the desert in the daytime or it may ascend to 70,000 feet and hover on station when not in use. It may use a remote source of power. One proposal I heard was directed RF energy. As far having to be built indoors or needing a hanger? The airship could change size and maybe even shape. I could be built from modular pieces that can be assembled anywhere. This is all stuff that was kicked around by DARPA back in the 70's. It's speed could be roughly 3 times as fast as a naval cargo ship which does give it an advantage. Speed is not critical it you cannot be detected. There are definitely different airships that are being developed for different purposes with some designs already in use. I have provided some links below to two different airship manufacturers who were planning very large lift airships. I don't know what their current status is. They could have gone out of business or gotten contracts and dropped from view. Anyways, I thought I would add some fuel to the fire. Also organizations like DARPA have the the best and brightest resources and are not in any way confined to what we think is possible. I recall the CEO of the company I worked for making a statement that given the time and funding we could build anything. There are no limits. Here are some sites that were active a couple of years ago that may be of interest: http://www.millenniumairship.com/products.htm Bring the Fort to the fight. http://www.aereon.com/ http://www.aereon.com/pages/DYNAIRSHIPII.html Ultra large airlifter
WASP UAV
In Reply to: Stealth Blimp Idea posted by blade75769 on May 17, 2009 at 19:47:14 PST:
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