Will Airships Get DoD Funding Priority?

From July 20th INSIDE THE NAVY (subscription only) we learn that the US Army wants an airship.

On July 8, Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale sent all four congressional defense committees a $3.6 billion proposal to shift funds within the fiscal year 2009 budget from lower- to high-priority needs. Within that proposal is a move to direct $5 million for the new LEMV program, which will be run -- with cooperation from the Air Force and Navy -- by the Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, AL.

"Funds are required to support the initial acquisition planning and development for a Long Endurance Multi-INT Hybrid Airship," states the reprogramming. "This will provide operational forces with a persistent platform of up to two weeks on-station time, with an integrated multi-INT [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] sensor suite."

And a small sample of the requirements.

A hybrid air vehicle combines the characteristics of a fixed-wing aircraft or a helicopter with a lighter-than-air technology, that uses buoyancy from gas less dense than oxygen to stay aloft.

"Technical objectives for the LEMV include an unmanned aerial system capable of being controlled through an existing Department of Defense ground station, three-week flight endurance, 2,500 pound sensor payload, 20,000 feet operating altitude, multi-intelligence capable, 16 kilowatts of power for payload, capable of station keeping (the capability to loiter or maintain position over a required mission area in different types of weather), recoverable and reusable," states the Army's May FY-10 budget request.

The Defense Department wants the LEMV to spend one week of its total endurance in transit and on station for two weeks, according to a Pentagon official.

A 2,500 pound sensor payload suggests a small airship, but once the services start getting involved in airships it is only a matter of time before they start looking for a larger, lift version. I don't think people fully understand how survivable airships (we are not talking about blimps here) can be.

Experience will reveal many things difficult to see from the design board. Hybrid Air Vehicles (prototype pictured above) is expected to be one company bidding the program.