Flying carrier possible ?

Aha, lighter than air. Gotcha.

The discussion seemed to be regarding carriers that literally "flew", not blimp types.

But yeah, a lighter than air seems fairly feasible. Only misgivings I would have is regarding mobility/survivability.

Originally posted by ORIEguy
Aha, lighter than air. Gotcha.

The discussion seemed to be regarding carriers that literally "flew", not blimp types.

But yeah, a lighter than air seems fairly feasible. Only misgivings I would have is regarding mobility/survivability.

Sea based aircraft carriers are quite vulnerable as well. They need escorts to create a buffer zone around it. Similiar problem with this as well.

Yeah but think survivability. A lighter than air that takes a hit is pretty much done for, crew and all. A CVN has a pretty good chance of surviving even a large Russian AShM.

Another issue I wonder if on a per pound explosive basis, it might be cheaper to just load up the blimps with cruise missiles instead of as carriers. Lofting missiles from a blimp should increase the range of most missiles quite substantially. And if you could get it high enough, solid state lasers might provide pretty good protection. And you could solve the solid state heating problem by building heat sinks exposed to the air up there.

It still wouldnt be very fast, but hopefully you could pack firepower, sustainability, and survivability all into one package. Think of the CAS potential if you could also use the lasers for CAS work.

I think maybe a fire support lighter than air would be more efficient than a carrier...

Like I said, we've had flying aircraft carriers in the past.

Blimbs and Zepplins aren't quite as vulnerable as they're sometimes made out to be. First, the radar crass section on a blimp is quite small, and zepplins lend themselves to a good low rcs shape better than aircraft. (Size matters not!) Even if hit, most rigid frame airships have used multiple independant gas bags, meaning it will take some time to come down. These are very large gas bags, so even considerable shrapnal damage is going to create relatively small leaks. Thier airspeed is greater than an aircraft carrier's top speed, so mobility isn't a problem. (think flying ship, not airplane)