Will blimps ever be relevant again, or are they just big targets?
They were useless when the Germans tried to bomb London in WWI, and they were only marginally useful in WWII as barrage blimps.
>>29913268
>What is an aerostat?
They've been on our southern border, the keys and I think puerto rico for years, also Iraq and Afghanistan.
High altitude airships are still being researched for military surveillance and missile defense.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_altitude_platform_station#High-altitude_airship
>>29913268
IMHO they are big, fat sitting ducks. Hell, I'd bet three fiddy that even modern artillery could get them from afar.
I chased an aerostat that came untethered around Afghanistan on multiple occasions and then defended it from tusken raiders. I think they were called kuchis
>>29913289
they're damn good for transporting cargo across long distances.
There's a company that pitched the idea to the US army but is also looking into civilian transport.
Its advantages is that it is relatively easy to land without an airfield and can carry more cargo at a lower cost than its competitors (airplanes, heli's), though its definitely slower.
At most they could be good COIN aircraft with their payload and loiter time, but it'd be horrible against a conventional enemy.
launchpad for drones
a cargo vessel
a floating surveillance station
practically immune to missiles
can basically hang in the stratosphere for weeks without maintenance
their applications in modern military are enormous. everyone is building those right now
>>29913362
This gave me a good chuckle.
>>29913371
Immune to missiles? How?
>>29913268
Relevant for combat?
Because they are useful for delivering aid supplies.
They are already integral part of China's national cruise missile defense network.
Americunt SSGNs can attempt to Tomahawk the Three Gorges Dam anytime they want.
But the result will always be the same: All their 1000 cruise missiles intercepted off China's coast via early detection by stratospheric radar blimps, and SSGN getting a few ballistic missile carried nuclear ASROCs on their faces because the IR signature of their mass Tomahawk launch will light up China's Yaogan satellite system and be seen by said blimps.
>>29914100
+1 yuen has been added to your account
>>29914100
5 yuan have been deposited into your account
>>29914117
>>29914123
He isnt wrong though.
We Crimson Skies nao
Basically, I'm thinking that modern technology could make AMAZING airships.
I'm disappointed that airships still have the classic cigar shape instead of a lifting body design, like a fat flying wing.
Check this out.
Some guy is making a neat design never meant to land.
http://aeromodeller2.hylas.be/?p=155
>>29913294
I build these for a living.
>>29914310
if it's never ment to land, how do you get in?
>>29914310
http://www.globalnearspace.com/press_info_ROK_Stars_and_Stripes.shtml
You mean like this one I built?
Because no.
>>29914459
Vector thrust biplanes negro.
>>29914329
I used to use them.
THERE IS LITERALLY DOZENS OF US! :3
B L I M P T R A I N
I just read an article. I can't remember if it was the New Yorker. But they are making a comeback for areas that are difficult to deliver items to.
So remote sites that require _______ delivered, Are beginning to use them again
>>29914459
Skyscraper tie-offs. That's how they did it with the oldschool ones.
>>29913371
>immune to missles
NIGGA HOW
>>29914496
I just cut a chunk out of an old one and covered my notebook with it.
It was one from Afghanistan if i am correct.
>>29914209
A mass launch of any kind of missile was detectable by radar in the 70s, so that's not very impressive. A civilian air control radar could could do that.
>>29913268
Tethered aerostats (blimp shaped) are currently used for high-altitude sensors and stuff. And blimps really aren't as vulnerable as people think. They're under minimal pressure, so they can be even subjected to machine gun fire and won't lose altitude too fast. Rigid airships are even more survivable, as you'd need to penetrate the thick outer skin AND the inner gas cells (which isn't easy, as the bullets may bounce off or rotate when passing through the outer skin). And unlike blimps, they're under no positive pressure at all, so holes in the bottom will make basically no difference. Even hydrogen zeppelins were tricky to bring down, as the hydrogen is isolated and won't burn without oxygen, so you need to get the hydrogen to leak into the surrounding air and then fire incendiaries at it. In WWI they had to develop a special incendiary-explosive ammo mixture to do this, either type on its own wasn't sufficient. Missiles are another story of course, but it would probably be possible to fit them with some kind of lightweight slat armor (similar to naval torpedo nets).
>>29914459
You tether it so it's propellers can double as wind generators to power the hydrogen generators for lift and fuel...
I'd imagine there's an elevator that's basically a rope and a wench with an electric or manual pulley.
>>29914484
Oh wow, it has a lifting body! Nice. Needs a tail with rudders and small wings for additional lift and solar panels to supplement powered fight. We can build much more amazing stuff these days. Look at the "Mobula" from "Guns of Icarus", I'd design mine in a similar shape.
What did you mean "because no"?
>>29914510
Those days are long gone, it'll only happen again for nostalgia reasons. Honestly airships are pretty much useless in war, except for psychological reasons. Mass produced dirt cheap airships parked along a hostile border is basically a psyop.
But that wouldn't happen, they'd probably build SHITTY airships that cost a fucking FORTUNE and do fuck all except waste money.
>>29914496
>>29913268
For military...no
but I've always like the idea of commercial and private transport blimps for non fast travel....kind of like the idea of a slow luxury cruise where you are not in a rush to get anywhere.
Problem is in America, most red necks and niggers shoot at the advertising blimps enough to scare people from having private zepplins.
Personally I'd have a mini blimp instead of a Cessna 172 to travel around in.
>>29913485
This, I imagine blimps would be perfect for rescuing hurricane Katrina survivors off roof tops and be spotters with search lights and cameras.
>>29914504
mountain passes where helicopters or planes have hazards?
>>29914562
Neat, which kind?
>>29915101
I'm one of those people who go outside, I can't exactly be expected to know where memes come from.
>>29915145
>For military...no
>>29913294
>>29913331
>>29913364
>>29913371
Um
![Skyacht_personal_blimp_first_flight[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/oz54aB4.jpg "Skyacht_personal_blimp_first_flight[1].jpg")
>>29913268
Unmanned ones with lots of cameras installed could be used to keep a lookout over protected areas.
They're also cheaper to build, can carry more cargo, and are cheaper to operate than planes.
>>29915145
Source? I didn't know people shot at blimps. That's just wrong.
>>29915182
I thought OP was expecting Sky Ship blimp Aircraft Carriers, Battle Ships and Bombers
Blimps are pimp
>>29913268
I wonder...is it possible to create fire fighting blimps that can carry water and dump it over a wild fire?
>>29913268
I actually researched this for a report, recently. We had to give a speech for SCM and I chose to talk about the history of air transport.
The answer is: No.
Blimps were useful in the very short window when humans were just beginning to build working flying machines. Planes were very small and they couldn't carry a useful payload yet.
As soon as planes got big and strong enough that they could actually be used to carry men and cargo, the world have up on dirigibles and never really looked back for the most part.
They were used as bombers during the first world war which gave them an unfavorable aura in the eyes of the war-weary public. The Hindenburg sealed the deal. Of course, they would have been retired anyway but these factors sped up the process considerably.
>>29915273
Yes, but the response time would be terrible and the payload wouldn't be worth it.
I guess you could make a "fast response" blimp with a lifting body, airfoil wings, tail, etc basically a blimp/plane hybrid that can move quickly but still anchor to the ground and loiter, and use it to carry hoses that you use to pump water and spray getting supplied from the nearest water source...
No idea if it would be worth it.
>>29915276
>no
>the Hindenburg sealed the deal
Huh, I guess we should stop building skyscrapers because of 9/11? We should stop building ships because of the Titanic? We should stop going to space because of the Columbia??
Airships are the ONLY thing that we decided to stop operating because of a disaster. A disaster that killed a miniscule fraction of the lives the other disasters I've listed.
What the fuck, man? Honestly I think airships were killed by the helium conspiracy. Hydrogen cheap, helium expensive, people do a smear campaign after the Hindenburg, and get rich from others naivete. And the Hindenburg was likely destroyed by sabotage, the company that operated the craft were not on good terms with Nazi Germany. Remember the time period the Hindenburg was in, car factory tycoons bought out and destroyed electric bus systems in entire cities to force people to buy cars. Patton was likely assassinated for wanting to go to war with the Russians. Murder and espionage over childish things was the name of the game. Fuck, it still is.
Airships fill a niche role, but they are the best at that role.
>>29915384
They would have been abandoned with or without the disaster. The Hindenburg just accelerated the process.
>>29915420
I agree, that's because they never used them for proper applications enough to warrant the expenses.
>>29915173
74k
>>29913268
Blimps cant be shot down. The Goodyear gets shot like 15 times a year.
>>29914100
OK, so they can detect a thousand cruise missles.
Now what?
>>29917516
>The Goodyear gets shot like 15 times a year.
Source? If true, I cant believe I've never heard of an arrest for that.
Also there are 3 different Goodyears
>>29917656
I want a source too!!
Why would people shoot at a blimp? :(
That's sad
>>29915276
Maybe you should try a little more hard when you doing a "research".
>>29915182
>>29913433
>Immune to missiles? How?
Transparent to radar and low IR signature. And loitering 500km away from the fight, 60k feet up, like a stealth mega-AWACS drone.
>>29914100
then just shoot down the brimps
>>29917830
>Why would people shoot at a blimp? :(
This. Blimps are innocent. They're like sky Manatees; Big, slow and peaceful.
STOP BLIMP ABUSE!
>>29917656
>>29917830
My dad tells me stories about how him and his brother would shoot at it with a .50 cap and ball pistol whenever it flew around the Eel river valley.
They'd sit up on the bluffs and see how many shots they could get off. Dad claimed 11 one day lol
>>29914100
Whoa there, Hop Sing. Nobody said anything about Tomahawking Three Gorges Dam. You need to dial back a little on the insecurity.
>>29914209
Except for it being a 9th grade autismoprepper's fap fantasy. It's not a realistic scenario.
>>29915194
Armored Zeppelins are the only counter to submersible battleship carriers with gliderStugs
>>29914503
go ride a bike or somethi/n/g
>>29917830
I wonder how much that'll cost... Couldn't be more than 10 mil if they ever start manufacturing them, right? I could see myself buying one if the price is ever low enough and I have enough money.
Good read
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generation-of-airships-is-born
>>29914123
>5 Yuan = 0.77 USD
>1 min per post, 7.5 hrs chinkposting a day
>450 x 0.77 = 346.5 USD per day
>Work 20 days a month = $6930
G-guys... where do I apply?
>>29913268
We could use airships to refuel drones that have low stall speeds.
>>29922694
No clue if the guy is even still working on the project.
They did some amazing tests on the gas bags, they should have videos of it on their website. Basically he set a gas bag on fire and showed how the burn could be controlled.
http://aeromodeller2.be/
>>29913268
Kirov Reporting.
>>29913268
emp delivery?
>>29924474
That looks like some Final Fantasy shit
>>29913268
I, too, saw the BF1 trailer.
>>29926113
its red alert 2
>>29913268
make them into bombers
>>29924474
>>29928019
fuck, I should have checked first, you beat me to it
>>29915204
honestly thats not a bad idea. However, the real problem is that infrastructure required for tethering itself while resting. Also i'm not quite sure of the scale of that thing, and I dont think he was either, so that makes me question the math behind the Hydrogen and Oxygen splitting number feasibility.
>>29928019
>>29924474
>kirov gains elite status
>motherfucking tesla bombs
>RA3
>kirov gain heroic status
>motherfucker goes thermonuclear
>i am become death, destroyer of allies
the shit inside blimps is always lighter than air, right?
even super thin, high-atmosphere air?
why don't we put minuteman-3s on these things and launch them off like the c5 can from the armstrong line?
technically not space and these fuckers would be hard to detect, and they could go anywhere in the world, and still land for repairs, making them much better than any space system.
if this existed I think curtis lemay would probably cream himself
>>29928132
reaction time for the blimps is too low. and it's too high of a risk to have an armed blimp with a nuke on it 24/7.
The early warning missile launch detection countermeasures we have on the new missiles like the Trident D5 and such make the initial launch not as much of a problem as it used to be. I'd rather not go into details as to why but rest assured it is very hard nowadays to see them launched.
>>29928221
also besides, other spaceborne detection systems would automatically notice a blimp rising up from the ground and then immediately go OH SHIT and begin doing a SAR sweep of the launch area. It might even be more noticeable than a normal launch in some instances.
>>29928221
so if they can't launch nukes, could they act as a dew line system?
have a bunch of them at say, 80k feet, drones of course, and watch for nukes.
and if we develop better systems, they could even be a ABM system.
>>29928128
To be honestg, I like red alert but I enjoy the Tiberium saga (minus the abortion of CnC 4) more.
>hordes of stealth tanks raeping GDI harvesters
>squad of upgraded avatars walk up soon after
IN THE NAME OF KANE
>>29928257
thats been implemented. high altitude sonic and electromagnetic surveillance balloons were recently revealed to the public (intentionally). As far as anti-missile capabilities (ie, swatting an incoming launch vehicle) I doubt it. They would certainly be useful as radar stations, but as a weapons platform they are a bit lacking. We have far more secure ground implemented systems for that.
I could however see adding an electronic warfare capability such as directed energy towards a target to disrupt an incoming threat. The B1B lancer prototypes have the capability to knock out not just an entire buildings computers by way of frying them, but they can selectively zap just a single level of a building. Precision. I couldn't imagine what they could fit inside a blimp.
