MX (Melbourne, Australia) July 07, 2004
Eye in sky not hot air
BLIMP WATCH
IN THIS age of laser-guided weapons and real-time satellite communications, it may be difficult to imagine any interest in supplying the US defence arsenal with lumbering blimps.
But backers of airships say they are cheaper than satellites and manned reconnaissance planes and would fill a gap between the two.
And, by hovering over a particular area, airships can provide more persistent surveillance than unmanned reconnaissance drones.
"Think of us as a low-hanging satellite," said Mike Lawson, president of Techsphere Systems International, which is about to produce 18 metre and 60 metre versions of its Aerosphere spherical airship in Georgia. "We're a niche in the marketplace that will create a safer world."
Among Techsphere's rivals is Lockheed Martin Corp, which has a $57 million contract from the US Missile Defence Agency to develop a high-altitude prototype in Akron, Ohio, home of the Goodyear blimps.
Researchers have been up dating lighter-than-air technology for the 21st century, with new power systems and fabrics to help them survive extreme temperatures and solar radiation in the stratosphere.
"There is probably more in terest in airships today than there has been for some time," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defence consulting group in Virginia.
"Whether any of it is going to pan out is a different question."
© Copyright 2004, Nationwide News Pty Limited
