Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10

HAV-304 Airlander 10
Role Hybrid airship
National origin UK
Manufacturer Hybrid Air Vehicles
Number built 1


The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 is a hybrid airship made by Hybrid Air Vehicles in the UK. It was originally built for the US Army's Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) project.

The HAV 304 was selected by the United States Army for its LEMV programme in which Northrop Grumman was to have been the prime contractor.[1] The LEMV was intended to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) support for ground troops[2][3] through unmanned, medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle operations.[4] On 7 August 2012 the first test flight of an LEMV was completed in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The vehicle tested was one of three planned for the US Army.[5]

The US Army cancelled the LEMV project for cost reasons in February 2013. HAV bought back the airship in September 2013 for $301,000.[6] In 2014—named Airlander—it was reassembled at RAF Cardington in England.[7]

Development and design

HAV 304 and the LEMV project

Following the successful demonstration of the HAV-3 small-scale demonstrator, and with Northrop Grumman as the prime bidder, the hybrid airship concept was accepted for the US Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) project, in preference to the Lockheed Martin P-791 also submitted.

Requirements included the capability to operate at 6 km (20,000 feet) above mean sea level, a 3000 km (2,000 mile) radius of action, and a 21-day on-station availability, provide up to 16 kilowatts of electrical power for payload, be runway independent and carry several different sensors at the same time.[2] According to the U.S. Army, the LEMV was to have been a recoverable and reusable multi-mission platform. It could be forward located to support extended geostationary operations from austere locations and capable of beyond-line-of-sight command and control.[2]

The agreement to develop the project was signed on June 14, 2010, between the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command and Northrop Grumman.[2] The agreement also included options for procuring two additional airships.[2]

Northrop Grumman's subcontractors included:

The developmental prototype emerged as the HAV 304, having an internal capacity of 38,000 cubic metres.[9] At 91 m long, it is the longest aircraft in the world today.[7] This compares mid-20th Century airships such as the German Hindenburg-class airships which were 245 m (803 ft 10 in) long.

Its first flight took place on 8 August 2012 at Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst.

The project cost between $154 million and $517 million, dependent on all options.[2] The cost included the design, development, and testing of the airship system within an 18-month time period, followed by transportation to Afghanistan for military assessment.[2]

Combined with an array of payloads - including ground moving target indication radar, electro-optical/infra-red sensors, communications relay, blue force tracking, signals intelligence, and electronic countermeasures - the LEMV would have augmented existing ISR platforms to provide additional capabilities.[3] The LEMV was intended to provide a possible solution to communications beyond the line-of-sight to the user, signals intelligence collection and almost any other type of payload configuration that meets the power, weight and size requirements.[3] By providing this all-source sensor data to existing ground stations, the data would be available to multiple users and analysts.[3] This interoperability with existing tasking, processing exploitation, and dissemination had the potential to improve information-poor situations, mitigating warfighter gaps and existing shortfalls through multi-intelligence sensor integration.[3]

The LEMV would have enabled the DoD to fly the most technologically advanced payloads in the near term as they became available.[3] Northrop Grumman designed their system to integrate into the Army's existing common ground station command centers, and equipment used by ground troops in forward operating bases.[8] The LEMV could also be used to move heavy equipment while in Afghanistan, a massive advantage over competing UAVs.[10]

The airship was a hybrid aircraft and had a number of advantages over fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A hybrid aircraft uses aerodynamic lift like a conventional aeroplane to take off before using helium to keep it in the sky once it is airborne. Engines on board are then used to move while it monitors events on the ground.[10] The LEMV's skin—a blend of Vectran, Kevlar, and Mylar—would have been able to cope with a "reasonable amount of small arms fire."[10] Northrop estimated that the biggest threat to the craft was weather, where high winds or thunderstorms could buffet the craft.[11]

Airlander 10

Following cancellation of the LEMV project, the HAV 304 was repurchased by HAV and returned to the UK and hangared at RAF Cardington.[12] There it was reassembled and refurbished for civilian use and redesignated the Airlander 10.[13] HAV announced the new version in March 2016, with potential civil, military and leisure uses, to be test-flown in 2016.[14]

History

Origins

The costs involved in reconnaissance by fixed-wing aircraft flight were estimated in 2010 to be $10,000–20,000 per flight hour, plus an additional $10,000 in recapitalization costs.[8] Helicopters are more affordable than their fighter equivalent, and can intervene like fighters if weapons are needed, but they are noisy and vulnerable, have very low endurance, and are still not cheap to operate.[8] Hybrid airships can operate, like a helicopter, from any small forward base. Their operating cost is likely to be better than any other surveillance option, as is their endurance, which can be measured in weeks.[8] The LEMV required at least 1,000 ft (300 m) of runway (violating the runway-independent requirement), and a tether point with a 300-foot clear flat area around on which to park, which prevented them from operating at most large bases and all small bases.

They could serve as steady communications relays, for instance, ensuring that groups of soldiers in mountainous areas never lose contact with one another, even if they do not have direct line of sight to each other.[8] LEMVs could have tracked important convoys, key roadways, or other key infrastructure as semi-permanent overwatch escorts, monitor an urban area of interest to prepare for major battles or enforce security, or focus on shutting down border chokepoints.[8]

According to Alan Metzger, director for airship programmes at Northrop Grumman, the airship's ability to stay in the air for long periods made it perfect for surveillance missions. Speaking to The Engineer magazine, Metzger claimed that the LEMV was "going to be the longest endurance UAV in the world. There will be no gaps in the data that gets put down to the war-fighter."[10] Northrop also said the LEMV could be used as a cargo aircraft, claiming that it had enough buoyancy to haul seven tons of cargo 2,400 miles at 30 miles per hour.[15]

Construction and first flight

The timeline for LEMV was an 18-month schedule starting in June 2010 that included vehicle inflation at about month 10.[2] Additional operational characterization would have occurred at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, in month 16.[2]

The Army was slated to demonstrate the first LEMV in Afghanistan 18 months after June 2010, with proposed plans to build five others following mission completion.[3]

The overall concept struggled with constant time delays and technological challenges. In October 2011 Flight International reported that the LEMV was scheduled to make its first flight in November 2011.[16] According to media reports the LEMV was then set up for its first flight in early June 2012.[17] However, unspecified problems delayed the flight even further. The first flight of the LEMV took place on August 7, 2012 over Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. The flight lasted for 90 minutes and was performed with a crew on board. The first flight primary objective was to perform a safe launch and recovery with a secondary objective to verify the flight control system operation. Additional first flight objectives included airworthiness testing and demonstration, and system level performance verification. All objectives were met during the first flight. That put the combat deployment of the LEMV to Afghanistan in early 2013.[18] However, two months after the test flight, the Army said it had concerns about sending the airship abroad. These included safety, transportation to the theater of operations, and the timeline of deployment.[19]

Cancellation

On 14 February 2013, the Army confirmed that it had cancelled the LEMV development effort, citing technical and performance challenges, as well as the limitations imposed by constrained resources.[20]

Hybrid Air Vehicles, the company which developed and helped build the airship, expressed interest in purchasing the airship from the Army before the craft was to be dismantled. Ostensibly, they would use it for cold- weather flights and other testing for the development of their "Airlander 50" 50-ton cargo airship.[21] It was the only interested party - offering to purchase the aircraft, mooring masts and spare engines.[6] In September 2013, the Pentagon sold the LEMV airship back to HAV for $301,000, a fraction of the $297 million spent on development. The cameras, sensors, and communications equipment were removed and the helium was drained before the sale. The Army maintains that the project's technical data and computer software could be useful for future projects and that selling it would save money.[22]

Re-activation

The airship was delivered to the UK and is undergoing reassembly as the Airlander 10[23] at RAF Cardington,[7] and its first flight is anticipated in 2016.[24] The project has received UK[25] and EU funding.[26]

Technical specifications

HAV 304 design:[27]


Airlander 10

Data from hybridairvehicles.com [28]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Northrop wins race to revive hybrid airships with $517 million order". Flight Global. 14 June 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) Agreement Signed". United States Army. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle". Army News Service. 2009. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  4. ↑ "Long Endurance Surveillance Vehicle". Hybrid Air Vehicles.
  5. ↑ "Cranfield firm's 'breakthrough' for English airships". BBC News. September 2012.
  6. 1 2 Schechter, Erik (28 October 2013), US Army sells cancelled LEMV airship to original designer, flightglobal.com
  7. 1 2 3 Westcott, Richard (28 February 2014), World's longest aircraft is unveiled in UK, BBC News
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Rise of the Blimps: The US Army's LEMV". Defense Industry Daily. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  9. ↑ "Airships - HAV 304". www.airshipmarket.org. Airshipmarket. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Giant unmanned airships to patrol Afghanistan skies for up to three weeks at a time". Daily Mail. 2010-07-13. Retrieved 2010-07-13.
  11. ↑ Axe, David. Army Readies Its Mammoth Spy Blimp for First Flight Wired 22 May 2012. Retrieved: 15 June 2012.
  12. ↑ "LEMV Airship Sold Back to Manufacturer for a Song". www.defenseindustrydaily.com. Defense Industry Daily. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  13. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3502838/The-Flying-Bum-ready-lift-World-s-largest-aircraft-Airlander-10-fitted-fins-engines-ahead-flight.html
  14. ↑ Gwyn Topham (21 March 2016). "Massive new aircraft the Airlander 10 is unveiled". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  15. ↑ Axe, David (8 August 2012). "Video: Army's Giant Spy Blimp Soars Over Jersey Shore in First Flight". Wired.com. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  16. ↑ Rosenberg, Zach (14 October 2011). "LEMV readied for November flight". Reed Business Information. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  17. ↑ Sakr, Sharif (23 May 2012). "Army spy blimp to launch within weeks: 300 feet long, $500 million, 'multi-intelligent'". engadget.com. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
  18. ↑ Army's LEMV Surveillance Airship Flies - Aviation Week.com, August 7, 2012
  19. ↑ Army's Giant Spy Blimp Plan for Afghanistan Set Adrift - Wired.com, October 22, 2012
  20. ↑ Army Kills The Military's Last Remaining Giant Spy Blimp - Wired.com, February 14, 2013
  21. ↑ http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/News/Inflated-hopes-for-Bedfordshire-airship-manufacturer-20130329170000.htm
  22. ↑ Army lets air out of battlefield spyship project - LAtimes.com, 23 October 2013
  23. ↑ Norris, Guy (15 May 2015). "Hybrid Hopes: An Inside Look At The Airlander 10 Airship". Aviation Week & Space Technology. Archived from the original on 16 May 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  24. ↑ Page, Lewis. "Massive new AIRSHIP to enter commercial service at British dirigible base" The Register, 3 March 2014. Accessed: 8 March 2014.
  25. ↑ Stevenson, Beth (12 February 2015), "HAV receives UK funding to bring airship back to flight", Flightglobal (Reed Business Information), retrieved 9 April 2015
  26. ↑ Stevenson, Beth (8 April 2015), "Airlander receives environmentally-friendly transport funding", Flightglobal (Reed Business Information), retrieved 9 April 2015
  27. ↑ Page, Lewis. "Massive new Airship to enter commercial service at British dirigible base" The Register, 3 March 2014. Accessed: 10 April 2014.
  28. ↑ Airlander 10 Technical Data www.hybridairvehicles.com

External links

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