Naval Airship Association sets Reunion

The Naval Airship Association has set its Bi-Annual Convention/Reunion in San Jose, California for September of 2010. The Association is especially proud that rides on the Zepp NT will be available to Members. This should be a very interesting Reunion and all Members are encouraged to come on out. Look for details in your Noon Balloon newsletter. Or go to www.naval-airships.org

Pentagon Pushes For Unblinking Surveillance

Excerpted from Aviation Week & Space Technology

U.S. plans to deploy an unmanned surveillance airship to Afghanistan are moving forward, with a contract for the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) demonstration expected to be awarded by year-end.

Designed to stay aloft for three weeks carrying a heavy payload of wide-area sensors, the airship is becoming a flagship for Defense Dept. efforts to provide unblinking airborne surveillance to defeat the threat from roadside bombs. 

With other programs pushing unmanned aircraft to greater persistence and heavier payloads, the Pentagon is coming to grips with the consequence: a torrent of motion imagery that must be analyzed and archived to be of use.

The Pentagon's intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) task force has the LEMV on the fast track, with a single demonstrator vehicle to be fielded to Afghanistan within 18 months of contract award. Congress has fully funded the Fiscal 2010 budget request of $90 million for the program.

U.S. Army Space & Missile Defense Command (SMDC) is to lead the airship program, contracting with an industry consortium now taking final shape.

The consortium is expected to be established by early October, with a request for proposal to follow in November, leading to contract award by the end of December. The airship would fly within 15 months and deploy by mid-2011.

Exactly how the government will interact with the consortium is not yet clear. There are several potential platform providers involved, including Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works and the U.K.'s Hybrid Air Vehicles, both of which are expected to brief SMDC on their proposals in October.

The LEMV is required to stay aloft at 20,000 ft. for 21 days carrying a 2,500-lb. payload, a combination of either a multi-camera wide-area airborne surveillance (WAAS) sensor or a ground moving-target indication (GMTI) radar plus a signals-intelligence system and multiple electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors.

Lockheed Martin's design is a 250-ft.-long hybrid airship, which derives 80% of its lift from helium buoyancy and the rest from aerodynamics so it can be launched and recovered without the traditional airship ground infrastructure. The vehicle will be optionally piloted: manned for self-deployment and unmanned for surveillance missions.         

Hybrid Airship for Afghan ISR Takes Shape

Posted by Graham Warwick at 9/21/2009

The consortium will include sensor and system suppliers, and Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works says it will supply the air vehicle - a development of its P-791 experimental hybrid airship flown in 2006 (video here). The company-funded P-791, which flew six times, was 125ft long. The LEMV will be 250ft long, and designed to loiter at 20,000ft for up to 21 days carrying a 2,500lb ISR payload.

The LEMV is a hybrid airship - it's heavier than air, 80% of its lift coming from buoyancy and 20% from aerodynamics. Propulsion comes from six thrusters - three per side - powered by individual turbo-diesels for take-off and climb, and electrically from a central turbo-generator for loiter. And it's non-rigid, structural stability results from the three-lobe envelope design. The airship is also optionally piloted - flown manned for self-deployment and unmanned for persistent ISR missions.

An air cushion landing system allows the airship to be maneuvered for taxiing and take off, and sucks the vehicle down on to the ground - or sea surface - for landing, loading and unloading.

Hanging under the envelope, behind the sometimes-occupied cockpit, is a payload bay 40ft long, 15ft wide and 6-8ft tall - more than enough room to mount either a ground moving-target indication radar or multi-camera wide-area motion imagery sensor, plus a signals-intelligence payload and multiple EO/IR sensors.

A single air vehicle is to be built and ready to deploy within 18 months of contract award, LEMV joining an expanding pantheon of persistent ISR options under evaluation by the Pentagon. This is a case of persistence pays, as the Skunks have been pursuing hybrid airships for a long time, for transport as well as ISR - but that's another story...