buoyant heavy-lift systems

I went deep down the rabbit hole today and stumbled into these two Aerostat vids from sometime in the 90s. First one up is the classic JLENS missile defense role for both cruise and ballistic missiles in conjunction with Patriot, THAAD, etc The second one I found more interesting as it was a...

Hi, the All American Engineering Company seemed to be invention many aircraft Projects,in the Submersible Aircraft topic and in reply # 152,I displayed an article about flying submarine jet fighter Project for this firm; http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,703.150.html In...

"Paris Air Show 2015: Lockheed Martin unveils new heavy-lift hybrid airship" Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly 17 June 2015 Source: http://www.janes.com/article/52319/paris-air-show-2015-lockheed-martin-unveils-new-heavy-lift-hybrid-airship

At some point during the late 1960s, the Goodyear company studied the possibility of a new giant rectangular transport airship category which they called "Dynastat". Source: AERIAL VERY HEAVY LIFT CONCEPTS FOR THE 1990 ARMY VOLUME III - ACADEMIC & INDUSTRIAL PRESENTATIONS (U.S. Army, November...

Rethinking Heavy Lift May 6, 2011 By Bill Sweetman Washington Under a little-publicized program sponsored by the Pentagon, a small Southern California company is working on a design that is radical even by the quirky standards of buoyancy-aided aircraft: a rigid-hulled aircraft that...

The recent near space manoeuvring thread features work by J P Aerospace and got me thinking that their airship to orbit (ATO) programme deserves its own thread. ATO is one of the more original (many say impossible!) ideas for getting to LEO. Following ATO description is taken from attached PDF...

Not quite “Up”, but close… Potential of Aerostats For The Recovery Of Disabled Main Battle Tanks and Other Heavy Military Vehicles And Equipment http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA488608&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

Magnus Spherical Airship

When was the technology available for the introduction of SkyCats should a demand for their capability arise earlier?

Overscan, is it allowed to create a thread regarding airships ;) ? Around 1964 the US company Aereon built an interesting nameless(?) airship. 1. Did it ever fly? 2. Is the marked area (see arrow) the cabin for pilot and second person? 3. Has it a name/designation? 4. I'm still looking for...