250-Foot Long Hybrid Airship Will Spy Over Afghanistan Battlefields in 2011

[YosemiteSam]

Check out this crazy airship that is going to spy over Afghanistan.

LINK

Sometimes it feels like I'm already living in the future. The U.S Army's Space and Missile Defense command plans to have an unmanned spy-ship capable of loitering at 20,000-feet (for up to three weeks) ready to deploy by mid-2011.

Dubbed the Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV), the craft will be based on Lockheed Martin's P-791 experimental hybrid airship, which you can see in the video below. The smaller P-791 was 125-foot long, but flew six tests in 2006. It's known as a hybrid because only 80% of its lift comes from buoyancy; the other 20% comes from three downward thrusters on each side.

As for the LEMV: a 40-foot long, 15-foot wide area behind the only sometimes-manned cockpit will carry intelligence systems, like radar and wide-area motion sensors, that will beam information back to commanders on the ground.

Totally makes me think of Aeon Flux or Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Crazy.

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[Rampage]

It doesn't even look real. like you said it looks like something out of a movie. that thing also looks like it's a goner if it were spying over a country with a real army.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Holy moly!

 

[tomson75]

It doesn't even look real. like you said it looks like something out of a movie. that thing also looks like it's a goner if it were spying over a country with a real army.

Lmao...my first thoughts as well.

 

[TheCount]

Looks cool, but pretty much relegated to use on "primitive" battlefields, isn't it?

 

[YosemiteSam]

Looks cool, but pretty much relegated to use on "primitive" battlefields, isn't it?

Not if they put those new laser weapons on it. Those can shoot down planes, rockets, and a whole host of other stuff in seconds.

 

[theogt]

Not if they put those new laser weapons on it. Those can shoot down planes, rockets, and a whole host of other stuff in seconds.

I think we should reserve our lasers for mounting on the dinosaurs we're re-creating from DNA trapped in tree sap.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I think we should reserve our lasers for mounting on the dinosaurs we're re-creating from DNA trapped in tree sap.

Sounds like a plan.

 

[BadWolf]

I think we should reserve our lasers for mounting on the dinosaurs we're re-creating from DNA trapped in tree sap.

Wow... Dino Riders. Its been 20 years since I've seen anything Dino Riders related... good times.

 

[Viper]

We could always put two wings on a plane and call it a biplane.

 

[MapleLeaf]

...inclement weather? High winds electrical/thunderstorms?

 

[theogt]

...inclement weather? High winds electrical/thunderstorms?

I think the dinosaurs can withstand a little rain. The lasers may be inoperable, though.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I think the dinosaurs can withstand a little rain. The lasers may be inoperable, though.

:laugh2:

 

[masomenos]

I think the dinosaurs can withstand a little rain. The lasers may be inoperable, though.

:laugh2:

That may be the funniest thing I've ever read on CZ.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

:laugh2:

That may be the funniest thing I've ever read on CZ.

dude.

 

[YosemiteSam]

dude.

I agree. Personally, I find insult Bob threads much funnier! :clubbed:

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Check out this crazy airship that is going to spy over Afghanistan.

Hummm........