DARPA To Award Walrus Phase 1 Airship Contracts In June

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
6 June 2005

By Jefferson Morris

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to award up to three Phase 1 contracts for the Walrus cargo airship program in June, according to agency spokeswoman Jan Walker.
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Airships such as these can take hundreds of rounds and still not come down. They will not explode. If they get many holes shot in them they will just float to Earth. This will not be used on the front lines but used to transport alot accross the sea and over land.

excellent.

I'm glad to here there sticking with it and not givin' it the boot.

I'm a huge supporter for Airships, and i'm anxious wo see what these mamoths will look like. I think another role that fits them would be as a fire fighter, helicopters always need to refuel, and then there maintenance, plus they can't hold enough water. If I were Arnold and in charge of Cali, I would want some of those in my fire fighting arsenal. Instead of countless helo dumps, just drench the hell out of the fire by unleashing a few hundred tons of water.

The Walrus & HAA seem to be the only big news in Airships. to bad, they deserve a lot more credit, but in to many peoples eyes ther old and slow and every one knows the hindenburgs fate.

The Walrus & HAA seem to be the only big news in Airships. to bad, they deserve a lot more credit, but in to many peoples eyes ther old and slow and every one knows the hindenburgs fate.

Yeah people can be really moronic sometimes ... I would like to see these things eventually replace truck fleets that transports non-perishables long distances for relief and commerce etc. I heard of one that can fly 50 mph That's pretty damn fast for this type of tech.

actually there are newer designs that are looking at around 80 mph.

they are faster and cheaper then ships.

they are good for: surveillance, communication relay, and trasportation for anything, people, military equiptment, food & water. having humanitarian Airships would also be a good idea, for when-ever & where-ever a natural distaster happens.

ww1 all over again!

this is getting scary its like we are reinventing ww1 tech trenches coming to?

wierd cool exciting

That is a cool!!! pic!!! it looks like a tank transport! too bad it goes slow, the enemy can shoot it down with no problem and it is not hard to find it lol, just look for a big fat balloon in the sky lol but it would make a great aircraft refueling station hehehe but not going to be pretty when it is shot down.

The airships are great thing!! I don't undestand why are they not used more often. For example for border patrols or coast guard, they are much cheaper than planes and helicopters.

Originally posted by ulshadow
That is a cool!!! pic!!! it looks like a tank transport! too bad it goes slow, the enemy can shoot it down with no problem and it is not hard to find it lol, just look for a big fat balloon in the sky lol

but it would make a great aircraft refueling station hehehe but not going to be pretty when it is shot down.

It would not be used in areas where it could be shot down. Also, shooting it down would be very hard.

Originally posted by jetsetter

Originally posted by ulshadow
That is a cool!!! pic!!! it looks like a tank transport! too bad it goes slow, the enemy can shoot it down with no problem and it is not hard to find it lol, just look for a big fat balloon in the sky lol

but it would make a great aircraft refueling station hehehe but not going to be pretty when it is shot down.

It would not be used in areas where it could be shot down. Also, shooting it down would be very hard.

Care to expand on that? how can something as slow to turn as that thing evade a missile?

At first I had my doubts about airships like this for military use, but now I thinbk there a good idea, however I dont see them being used for transport over the ocean, say from America to Europe, planes are much faster.

In the civilian world, I could see airships making a come back, and offering air cruises.

Planes can not carry as much and are more complicated. Ships are used to transport tanks anyways. Airships are carry much more and are simply machines. Also, about getting shot down. You can shoot hundreds of rounds into the airship and it still would not go down. That is the nature of airships. Even if it had a big hole, it would fall very slowly to the ground.

Originally posted by jetsetter
Planes can not carry as much and are more complicated. Ships are used to transport tanks anyways. Airships are carry much more and are simply machines. Also, about getting shot down. You can shoot hundreds of rounds into the airship and it still would not go down. That is the nature of airships. Even if it had a big hole, it would fall very slowly to the ground.

That doesn't answer my question though about a missile hit. I agree with you that pending nothing major was hit component wise that it would be a slow desent. its like pricking pin holes in a balloon.

A traditional missile like an AIM-9 may not even detonate.

Originally posted by jetsetter
A traditional missile like an AIM-9 may not even detonate.

would this be because of the old tech or the fabric that will be used or are u still not properly responding to the ques again

First, it does not seem that there is hot enough heat source for the missiles to lock onto. Also, the missile may go through and though with out detonation. The seeker in the missile would have to be very sensitive. The problem with that is that seekers that are very sensitive are easy to trick.

the engines on the thing will have a heat signature though just to point out the it wouldn't aim for the skin of the plane. say that the aim-9 doesn't work what a about the missiles designed to lock onto a RCS of a balloon. would it also be hard to make a huge balloon stealthy.

I'm not sure if those missiles would detonate. Traveling at over mach 3 they may just pass through the thing.

Jetsetter
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to award up to three Phase 1 contracts for the Walrus cargo airship program in June,

How many companies are they awarding the Phase 1 contract to?

What's the dollar amount of the Phase 1 contract?

and what is its requirements? like: Prototype will fly by...such n' such date, and so on???

I ask because you thread was fairly poorly made, with 1 real sentence and no link.

If you want to plunk down 5 bucks for the article be my guest

aviationnow.ecnext.com...

Most of the answers are most likely in their. Dam I hate pay-per-view

Originally posted by jetsetter
I'm not sure if those missiles would detonate. Traveling at over mach 3 they may just pass through the thing.

Todays misilles have also laser proximity detonator, they don't need to hit the target directly.