High Altitude Airship

[Draken]

This looks like a cool future recon air unit!

In December, Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors (Akron, OH) received a contract to build a prototype of the High Altitude Airship (HAA) that has been in the planning stages for several years. The $149.2-million award by the US Missile Defense Agency marks the beginning of the program's third phase, which is to culminate in the prototype’s delivery and flight in 2009. The unmanned, near-space (planned operational altitude of 60,000-70,000 feet) HAA is intended to be part of the US’ domestic anti-missile and anti-air defense structure, filling the altitude “gap” between airplanes and satellites. Employing both advanced fuel cell and solar power array technology to produce power, it will also be able to provide enhanced weather and high-altitude imagery information to a variety of users. Its potential use in telecommunications – as sort of a very low altitude “satellite” – is almost unlimited.

More at http://www.navlog.org/haa.html

[Sebastiaan]

I agree, this would be a very intresting and usefull unit to guard the borders

[szabfer]

What kind of statistics do you imageine for this unit?

My ideas:

very low speed, huge fuel reserves (I think we cant set it to unlimited), almost 0 combat values, good recon (like an AWACS? ).

No idea about tech level... if we want to be realistic, it should be somewhere the tech level of the F23 (that is the US tech level today )

Lets create the stats to help the BG guys...

[Draken]

What kind of statistics do you imageine for this unit?

My ideas:

very low speed, huge fuel reserves (I think we cant set it to unlimited), almost 0 combat values, good recon (like an AWACS? ).

No idea about tech level... if we want to be realistic, it should be somewhere the tech level of the F23 (that is the US tech level today )

Lets create the stats to help the BG guys...

Since it should be a High Air unit its spotting range should be bigger than the AWACS's.

[szabfer]

Anything else? Come on, lets create the new unit

[commanderandrew]

Think about it blimps!

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/cat_blimps.html

yea it says it was Canceled, but.. Its an intresting idea!
A Flying Aircraft Carrier/Heavy Lift/Transport/Support/Portable Base!!!