A commercial customer
could be announced within 12 months for a new heavy freighter version of a
hybrid airship in development for the US Army, Northrop Grumman said.
The commercial market
appears to be evolving rapidly even as a Northrop/Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV)
team is still assembling the first long-endurance multi-intelligence vehicle
(LEMV) ordered by the army a year ago.
"This week we have
begun parts of the inflating process," said Alan Metzger, vice president and
integrated product team leader for LEMV and airship programmes. Nineteen
sections that comprise the structure of the balloon will be inflated over a
period of several weeks, he added.
The army could buy as
many as three of the optionally manned hybrid airships, which rely on both
buoyancy and aerodynamic forces to achieve lift.
An undisclosed customer within the army intends to demonstrate that the LEMV can perch at 20,000ft over a three-week period with a 1,133kg (2,500lb) payload that includes four high-definition electro-optical/infrared sensors, a signals interceptor, radar and three communications relay antennas, Northrop said.
The same vehicle with
a few modifications is already being offered to the commercial freighter
market.
The cargo version can
be designed to carry up to 18,143kg for 1,000nm. Required design changes
include a new freight floor added to a payload bay, and enlarged fuel/freight
module and hover pads added t the landing skids, Metzger said.
Northrop's interest in
the commercial market is moving forward after its chief competitor - the
Lockheed Martin SkyTug - teamed with a Canadian start-up to produce a hybrid
airship for the commercial cargo market. Meanwhile, the US Air Force has also
signed a $82 million contract with MAV6 to develop a surveillance airship with
one week endurance.
"Lots of people have
ideas, and they're all good ideas," Metzger said. "What we have is a vehicle."
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