The idea is pretty wild, even for the dreamers at Darpa: build a giant blimp that can haul 1,800 soldiers and their gear 12,000 nautical miles, in less than a week.
But the Pentagon’s research arm is serious enough about the project, code-named Walrus, to hand out more than $6 million to Lockheed Martin and Aeros Aeronautical Group to start designing the thing.
The Defense Department has renewed its interest in blimps in recent years; a pair of tethered airships kept watch over the giant American military complex near the Baghdad airport, when I was there. The “tri-phibian” (air, land, sea) Walrus is particularly intriguing because the Pentagon is trying to figure out ways to make American forces less reliant on deep-water ports, foreign bases, and billion-dollar airports to wage war. The Army’s Surface Deployment and Distribution Command has its own plans for a such an airship.
Darpa hopes the designs they’ve just funded will lead to a small-scale Walrus, capable of carting 30 tons, by 2008, Defense Industry Daily notes. That’s as much as today’s C-130 transport planes. But it’s only a fraction of the million pounds that the agency wants the Walrus will ultimately be able to lug around.
(Illustration by John MacNeill, used with premission.)
|
Giant Blimp on the Rise
« « Laser Sat’s Big Pipes | Katrina: Relief Links » »
Leave a Reply |
|
Good Morning Russell,
A great post on “Hydrogen Airships” unfortunately the post is dicussing “Helium Blimps”, not unlike the kind that fly over NFL games.
The U.S. Navy used “Blimps” well up into the 1950’s as an ASW platfrom. Although of questionable effectivness, I believe that only a single U Boat sinking was attributed to a Blimp during WWII. Blimps are cheap and can loiter over an area for as long as the crew can stand it.
Any future uses for Blimps might be as unmanned: communications relays, osbervation platforms or for electronic counter measures. The idea of using lighter then air for transportation of men and materials or as a weapons platform has kind of had its day.
The advantages of Blimps are that they are portable and cheap, the draw backs are the number of ground support personal and facilities required to keep them in the air and of course the make great targets.
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
“Stewart’s Platoon”
Personally I see heavy lift blimps as a great idea. They could easily be faster than ships and don’t require a deep port and can even move inland (Fighting a war in central Europe or Africa would not require long convoys to the battle). They are also likley to be cheaper to operate than heavy lift aircraft in just maintanance and are much cheaper than fixed or rotor craft for moving cargo. (Fuel, oil, Heleum costs). Beyond that the flexability of being able to land anywhere there is a few football fields of open space is huge. (It’s like a VTOL container ship) They would not be great as Skinner said for the battle field itself but neither are cargo ships.
And that is leaving out all the uses it has in smaller forms.
Another use for blimps: Cellular “Tower“
Imagine 3–4 of these over New Orleans: people can talk again.
Good use as well: platform to launch / refuel MV-22 Ospreys
A good name: “Shoothere” or “Gonewithewind”
They just closed the Tustin MCAS near me a couple years back, and it has two gigantic blimp hangars in it. They’re local landmarks. At least one is scheduled to be torn down at unknown cost. I bet they start needing blimp hangars around the time it’s rubble.
So does this mean that Lockheed has won? Because I know there are (or were) others in the running for the USAF Walrus project, a couple are world Skycat & Millenium Airships, I liked both of there concepts…I dont even think I have seen Lockheeds Walrus Concept.….I bet it would be cheaper to go with something other then lockheed…but I guess the AF thinks it might be cheaper since there allready giving them money for the HAA.
If they had boardable ones in New York on September 11, 2001, could they have deployed quickly enough to pluck people from the rooftops?
Not likely but still in New Orleans they would be an outstanding asset right now. If they have the altitude to get out of range of shoulder fired missiles, they would be an outstanding addition.
The skin of currently made blimps is artifically colored. It is the same material that was used in the Glossimer Albetrois and the Solar Challenger. The material can be made totally transparent. Then the only parts that would be visable would be the gondola, motorworks, and what it was carrying. They also have an extremely lower radar signature. More information on the material can be had from DuPont.
Check out some of the back issues of Popular Mech, Popular Science, Aviation Magazine on LTAS (Lighter Than Air Ships) for more information.
Blimps originally went to the weighside for a few reasons, namely speed. blimps aren’t fast, faster than sea based ships yes, but not faster than helicopters –which from a military standpoint is what really took the place of blimps– I think many people have felt they put the blimp to rest too soon and I’d agree. A blimp as a mobile C&C platform with troop and equipment transport-where speed is not of a concern– is an idea long overdue. although giant targets and not what i would recommend for hovering over downtown Kabul with a general or two in it, its a good idea. Blimps as an Offensive weapon is not a good idea.
As for the current rescue mission in New Orleans, why not use the military’s current heavy transport hovercrafts? They seem ideal to me.
I’d lay odds the Air Force might imagine F/A-18D “Super Hornet” makes a right dandy transport plane. And I’d lay odds they dislike the C-5 despite its effeciencies and purposes, because it is “The only plane in the military that gets down on all fours and takes it from both ends” during loading.
Whatever practical purpose these blimps may have, I don’t believe the government is capable of employing it to that purpose, if only from pessimism of where I see a lot of military money going, sometimes.
Still, it isn’t a bad idea. Heck, its probably a great idea. But I’d lay odds its’n more likely someone’s idea of a deployable special strike force, or an aerial armed empire of ZEPP. … Not good uses.
Lockheed won because the bidder was the Lockheed Skunk Works (ADP), who developed the U-2, SR-71, et. al. There isn’t a more respected name in aviation anywhere in the world if you’re going for a breakthrough, and DARPA is.
Aeros must have had a very good proposal to be the #2.
Defense Industry Daily’s in-depth profile on the Walrus project includes a note re: Milennium Airships, which may have lost the bid but could definitely remain involved in the project.
Finally, I’m really sorry SkyCat didn’t win because they seem to have a very good grasp of the civilian end, and civilian HULA production would help in a number of ways. I hope they go on to succeed in the civil market, and pick up some military contracts for border surveillance SkyCat-20s as well.
Long term, I think the US Army would be wise to think about kick-starting an industry here. Wouldn’t be the first time — not even for inflatables…
Here’s the DID in-depth profile link for the Walrus Program:
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/10/walrus-heavylift-blimp-getting-off-the-ground/index.php
And here’s a good “kick-start an industry” example:
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2005/05/ssc-developing-multiple-uses-for-airbeam-technology/index.php
Lots of uses for confined gas these days. A natural idea, I guess, being in Washington.…
1) I’d like to see these used for fighting wildfires out west. Five or six of these units custom-fitted with sprinkler lines (making it look more like a daddy-longlegs than a walrus) can surround an area and lay down a steady drizzle/downpour until the blaze burns itself out. It seems to me that a few thousand tons of water concentrated over the firezone could last a weekend or more.
2) This whole idea reminds me of Bucky Fuller’s theoretical Clond Nines: http://www.jerrypournelle.com/archives2/archives2mail/mail311.html#Nine
Build thousands of midget size survailence blimps and watch every street in Bagdad and every place needed to stop IEDs. Ben Nelson USAF retired
I spend many time to play this game and spend much money to bought the cheap kamas, although in order to her I give up many chance, but in my mind I did not had a little sad or regret, because I know that she was worth me to love.
At that time I do not know how to play this game, nothing to know, all things I will asked her, at the beginning we were very happy, we together to play and together to buy dofus gold but a long time after, she was not happy again, she thought that my level was lower
THE HINDENBURG SHOULD BE REDESIGNED AND REBUILT. I’D LIKE TO SEE A MILE LONG BY A HALF MILE WIDE ONE IN THE SKY!!!