US hybrid military airship makes first flight

[Nipuna]

Jeff Hecht, consultant

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z72GPZ3MI2M[/media]

The latest in US army aviation got off the ground for the first time late on 7 August, when the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) flew for 90 minutes over the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey. Lead contractor Northrop Grumman boasts that it has "successfully developed the world's largest, most-persistent lighter-than-air optionally piloted aircraft".

Yes, it's an airship, but no ordinary one. It's a hybrid vehicle, which gets lift not just from its helium tanks, but also from its modest wings and its four diesel engines. The army wants the roughly 100-metre LEMV to hover up to 6 kilometres over the battlefield carrying 1100 kilograms of cameras, sensors and communications gear for up to three weeks without landing. That's far longer than today's heavier-than-air robotic aircraft can stay airborne.

The big allure of airships for the army is their potential to cut the costs of gathering intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance data. Sending a fighter jet on such a mission can cost $10,000 an hour, but Northrop says $20,000 could keep the LEMV in the air for three weeks. However, building the first one cost $154 million.

Both the army and air force issued contracts for surveillance airships two years ago, but in May the air force cancelled its programme. LEMV's first flight was a year later than initially planned.