Will the American reconnaissance airship take to the air
The United States Air Force, having spent 140 millions of dollars to create a spy airship for military operations in Afghanistan, abandoned Blue Devil Block2, which is one of these types of projects. It became known that the airship-spy "landed" before it took off. Can this curtailment of the project mean future problems with the development of military airship building in general?
Let's take a closer look at Blue Devil Block2 - a project that is on the verge of closing. More recently, the United States Air Force issued a statement on the termination of the program, adding that it is not planned to resume its resumption on the previous platform.
The manufacturer - Mav6 - the airship is named model М1400. The airship envelope volume is 37 thousand m³, the speed is up to 150 km / h, the length is 123 m, the ceiling is 6 km, the time of continuous stay in the airspace reaches 9 days. We will compare this unit with the HAV 304, created by the British Hybrid Air Vehicles. Thus, the volume of the American apparatus, the assembly of which is almost completed in Elizabeth City, which is in North Carolina, is close to the volume of HAV 304. The time of continuous flight is three times less. The fact is that the speed of the M1400 is closer to 150 km / h, and for the HAV 304 it is equal to the entire 37 km / h. Of course, for an aircraft used for reconnaissance purposes, this is a significant difference.
One of the important drawbacks of the Mav6 development is the impossibility of landing without releasing helium, due to the fact that the airship is lighter than air. He also can not sit on the water, as does the HAV 304.
However, the point is not only and not so much in the characteristics of the model. For a long time, US military programs existed on the basis of a minimum budget constraint. Funds for military projects were issued almost unlimited. Now the Americans are trying to balance the military budget. But the cost of many types of military equipment is growing. So, during the development time, the M1400 price has increased exactly four times.
Today it costs 180 millions of dollars, which is absolutely shocking to those who were going to finance the project until the bitter end. Today, Americans understand that the further the idea of building a dirigible will be implemented, the more expensive it will cost the state treasury. It seems that the corruption component has also actively manifested itself here. That is why the United States decided to stop funding the program. This is also due to the fact that a similar project can be implemented by British experts at 40% cheaper. Americans learn to count money!
Mav6 tries to justify its requests by the fact that the cost of the electronic model filling is supposedly too high. The sensory system and the onboard data analysis center covers an area of 90 square kilometers. And this, they say in the company, is almost 3 times higher than that of the British competitors. In this case, the signals are processed fully automatically, and the sending to the ground center is carried out after a full analysis of the incoming data.
However, the experts of DARPA managed to catch the company in a certain amount of guile: the electronic filling of the model, which is civilian and military, is almost identical. And 100 of millions of dollars for an airborne electronics is too expensive, and making a supercomputer out of a dirigible is clearly not part of the task of the modern manual on financing US military projects.
It should be noted that carbon fiber is widely used in the M1400 design. With the design parameters, the cost of parts made of carbon fiber will have to be costly for the customer. In this case, even the option of using carbon fiber is questionable. After all, it is quite clear that the weight of the own design of such an aircraft as a dirigible for its maneuverability is not at all as important as the weight for an aircraft. The airship does not expend energy to maintain itself in the state of flight.
Of course, all these facts do not mean at all that even the very prospect of using airships for reconnaissance purposes remains vague. For example, many models drones cost more than $ 100 million, but can be in the air ten times less in time than, for example, HAV 304. Therefore, it is possible that the Americans, having revised the terms of financing the project, will nevertheless return to its implementation.
Let's take a closer look at Blue Devil Block2 - a project that is on the verge of closing. More recently, the United States Air Force issued a statement on the termination of the program, adding that it is not planned to resume its resumption on the previous platform.
M1400 (Blue Devil Block 2) build is almost complete. But he will not fly anywhere, which is a pity. (Here and below is the Mav6 photo.)
The manufacturer - Mav6 - the airship is named model М1400. The airship envelope volume is 37 thousand m³, the speed is up to 150 km / h, the length is 123 m, the ceiling is 6 km, the time of continuous stay in the airspace reaches 9 days. We will compare this unit with the HAV 304, created by the British Hybrid Air Vehicles. Thus, the volume of the American apparatus, the assembly of which is almost completed in Elizabeth City, which is in North Carolina, is close to the volume of HAV 304. The time of continuous flight is three times less. The fact is that the speed of the M1400 is closer to 150 km / h, and for the HAV 304 it is equal to the entire 37 km / h. Of course, for an aircraft used for reconnaissance purposes, this is a significant difference.
One of the important drawbacks of the Mav6 development is the impossibility of landing without releasing helium, due to the fact that the airship is lighter than air. He also can not sit on the water, as does the HAV 304.
However, the point is not only and not so much in the characteristics of the model. For a long time, US military programs existed on the basis of a minimum budget constraint. Funds for military projects were issued almost unlimited. Now the Americans are trying to balance the military budget. But the cost of many types of military equipment is growing. So, during the development time, the M1400 price has increased exactly four times.
Today it costs 180 millions of dollars, which is absolutely shocking to those who were going to finance the project until the bitter end. Today, Americans understand that the further the idea of building a dirigible will be implemented, the more expensive it will cost the state treasury. It seems that the corruption component has also actively manifested itself here. That is why the United States decided to stop funding the program. This is also due to the fact that a similar project can be implemented by British experts at 40% cheaper. Americans learn to count money!
Mav6 tries to justify its requests by the fact that the cost of the electronic model filling is supposedly too high. The sensory system and the onboard data analysis center covers an area of 90 square kilometers. And this, they say in the company, is almost 3 times higher than that of the British competitors. In this case, the signals are processed fully automatically, and the sending to the ground center is carried out after a full analysis of the incoming data.
The head of Mav6 is Dave Deptula behind the dirigible dashboard. In M1400, the presence of a pilot was only provided as an option.
However, the experts of DARPA managed to catch the company in a certain amount of guile: the electronic filling of the model, which is civilian and military, is almost identical. And 100 of millions of dollars for an airborne electronics is too expensive, and making a supercomputer out of a dirigible is clearly not part of the task of the modern manual on financing US military projects.
It should be noted that carbon fiber is widely used in the M1400 design. With the design parameters, the cost of parts made of carbon fiber will have to be costly for the customer. In this case, even the option of using carbon fiber is questionable. After all, it is quite clear that the weight of the own design of such an aircraft as a dirigible for its maneuverability is not at all as important as the weight for an aircraft. The airship does not expend energy to maintain itself in the state of flight.
Of course, all these facts do not mean at all that even the very prospect of using airships for reconnaissance purposes remains vague. For example, many models drones cost more than $ 100 million, but can be in the air ten times less in time than, for example, HAV 304. Therefore, it is possible that the Americans, having revised the terms of financing the project, will nevertheless return to its implementation.
Prepared by materials Wired и Computerra – Online.
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