U.S. Army to get new hybrid blimps for Afghanistan

[RyanSC]

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-aeros-airship-tustin-20130104,0,799208.story

New article, kind of an update to the original post.
I want to see how this thing delivers equipment.

 

[pardus]

Pretty cool. I wouldn't want to be in it though during a conflict.

 

[TheSiatonist]

Land anywhere with a 66-ton cargo. That's like a cargo of 1 Abrams tank and 1 up-armored Humvee, right?

And that surface reminds me of the invisibility cloaking device HyperStealth has developed recently.

Cool stuff.

 

[AWP]

We'll find some way to squander its potential.

 

[Marauder06]

We'll find some way to squander its potential.

Karzai will probably want 80 of them in the next round of demands from us.

 

[pardus]

Karzai will probably want 80 of them in the next round of demands from us.

That's OK, we'll supply all the Hydrogen he wants to run them...

 

[Karoshi]

I remember the SMDC Future Warfare Center having some of the LEMV project personnel in the back area of one of the bays here in Colorado Springs. Only thing I could think during the discussion was how these nerds are going to become the old man from "Up" in a few years.

 

[TheSiatonist]

Is that a blimp I see up there?

Photo is from the Ranger pix thread.

 

[pardus]

Is that a blimp I see up there?

Photo is from the Ranger pix thread.

Maybe the ghost Ranger beamed down from it. Don't believe everything you see on the internet.

 

[AWP]

Is that a blimp I see up there?

That's an aerostat.

 

[SkrewzLoose]

Are you sure it's not a weather balloon? I consulted a chart that said it's a weather balloon...or was it swamp gas?

 

[Scotth]

91B & Scotth ...

91B, Dude, this is a new deployment that you didn't know about with an exciting capability, WTF over?

Scotth, do some research into the range of shoulder SAMs & height the blimps the use.

They have to land some time which makes them vulnerable to all kinds of ground weapons. The spy ships might not land in theater but the transports do. Imagine the head lines when 1-2 million tons of supplies come crashing down in a big old pile of junk.

Even at cruise altitude they are big and slow which opens them up to air-to-air threats. We can't plan for only fighting third world shit holes that have no ADA when talking about investing 100's of million or even billions of dollars.

It is cool new tech but as a nation is this the best investment at this time? You have to ask your self is this critical to the US for carrying out our missions. It looks like the defense sequester cuts are going to hit the DoD. Then you have more politicians on both the left and the right calling for even deeper cuts to DoD. We have piles of worn out equipment that needs to be replaced after the last decade of war and we have a lot of work to do for our returning vets.

I think blimps would be cool and have very positive traits for certain conditions but it is a luxury that we don't need or can afford. We are throwing money at tech that will probably never be fully developed or deployed.

 

[AWP]

Well, this thread is now semi-irrelevant.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-blimp-fire-sale-20131023,0,3497521.story

Near the height of the Afghanistan war, the Pentagon spent $297 million on a seven-story blimp-like aircraft — as long as a football field — that would hover over the war zone for weeks at a time, beaming back crucial intelligence.

But as the military wound down its presence in the Middle East, plans for the unmanned floating spy center deflated. The aircraft fell behind schedule, became 12,000 pounds overweight and was ultimately canceled after just one test flight.

Last month, the Pentagon quietly decided to sell back the sophisticated spyship to the British company that built it for $301,000 — a fraction of its investment.

I love this part:

Aside from falling eight months behind its initial schedule, the airship had other problems, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. Last year, the GAO said it was "about 12,000 pounds overweight because components, such as tail fins, exceed weight thresholds."
The GAO said the increased weight reduced the airship's estimated endurance "at an altitude of 20,000 feet from the required 21 days, to 4 to 5 days."
In its first and only flight, the airship flew for more than 90 minutes above Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey in August 2012. The airship had a pilot onboard.
"We feel that getting a hybrid airship to first flight in such a tight timeline was an accomplishment unto itself," said Timothy Paynter, a Northrop spokesman.

HAHAHAHA!!! Spin it! "Yeah, we were way over the proposed timeline, way overweight, and reduced the airframe's loiter capability by more than 70%, but we did a great job!"

ETA: spelling

 

[Marauder06]

Great; another program cancelled, now we have more money to re-design everybody's service uniforms. Again.

 

[Ranger Psych]

They have to land some time which makes them vulnerable to all kinds of ground weapons. The spy ships might not land in theater but the transports do. Imagine the head lines when 1-2 million tons of supplies come crashing down in a big old pile of junk.

Even at cruise altitude they are big and slow which opens them up to air-to-air threats. We can't plan for only fighting third world shit holes that have no ADA when talking about investing 100's of million or even billions of dollars.

It is cool new tech but as a nation is this the best investment at this time? You have to ask your self is this critical to the US for carrying out our missions. It looks like the defense sequester cuts are going to hit the DoD. Then you have more politicians on both the left and the right calling for even deeper cuts to DoD. We have piles of worn out equipment that needs to be replaced after the last decade of war and we have a lot of work to do for our returning vets.

I think blimps would be cool and have very positive traits for certain conditions but it is a luxury that we don't need or can afford. We are throwing money at tech that will probably never be fully developed or deployed.

Sooooo here's a novel thought

we're bouncing through friendly countries OTW to current deployments

why not do the long hauls like across oceans to nearby friendly countries with a blimp that carries more, then use the hercs etc that aren't as economical but are more versatile and maneuverable... to shuttle from that location into the area of concern?

Let alone being able to do humanitarian stuff like Haiti etc with something that doesn't really need a runway (since blimps are basically VTOL aircraft) when you don't have to worry about being shot at.

 

[DA SWO]

91B & Scotth ...

91B, Dude, this is a new deployment that you didn't know about with an exciting capability, WTF over?

Scotth, do some research into the range of shoulder SAMs & height the blimps the use.

Mobile SAM's can probably go higher then the blimp, and eventually the blimp has to come to a lower altitude to deliver cargo.

 

[Scotth]

Mobile SAM's can probably go higher then the blimp, and eventually the blimp has to come to a lower altitude to deliver cargo.

That was my point exactly. They are probably out of range for shoulder fired weapons but a surface to air missile is another story. I think Ranger Pysch probably has the best operational use though.

With sequestration hitting the DoD on Jan 1 I would bet this plan and a bunch of others like it will become a luxury the DoD can't afford to keep funding.

 

[CDG]

There are shoulder fired surface-to-air missiles that can reach out to around 20K FT.

 

[DA SWO]

Some other issues to consider: How fast can they fly, and would they be limited to flying with a tailwind?
Heavy payloads are awesome, but only if it can there faster then a C5.

 

[reed11b]

Some other issues to consider: How fast can they fly, and would they be limited to flying with a tailwind?
Heavy payloads are awesome, but only if it can there faster then a C5.

You mean faster then a ship? That would be more accurate.
Reed