Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-1 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

Hybrid Airships

15 February 2011

The Honorable Zachary J. Lemnios

Assistant Secretary of Defense for

Research and Engineering

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-2 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

AT&L Organization

DIRECTOR,

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

Maj Gen William McCasland

DIRECTOR,

ADMINISTRATION

Ms. Judy Dahlgren

EXEC DIRECTOR,

DEFENSE SCIENCE

BOARD

Mr. Brian Hughes

DIRECTOR,

TEST RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT CENTER

Dr. John Foulkes

DIRECTOR,

ACQUISITION

RESOURCES & ANALYSIS

Dr. Nancy Spruill

ASSISTANT

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

(ACQUISITION)

(Performing Duties)

Mr. Shay Assad

ASSISTANT

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

(LOGISTICS & MATERIEL

READINESS) (Performing Duties)

Mr. Alan Estevez

DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY

OF DEFENSE

(INSTALLATIONS &

ENVIRONMENT)

Dr. Dorothy Robyn

ASSISTANT

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

(NUCLEAR & CHEMICAL

& BIOLOGICAL DEFENSE)

Honorable Andrew Weber

DIRECTOR,

INTERNATIONAL

COOPERATION

Mr. Alfred Volkman

ASSISTANT SECRETARY

OF DEFENSE

(RESEARCH & ENGINEERING)

Honorable Zachary Lemnios

DIRECTOR,

MISSILE DEFENSE

AGENCY

LTG Patrick J. O’Reilly

DIRECTOR,

HUMAN

CAPITAL INITIATIVES

Mr. Garry Shafovaloff

(Acting)

DIRECTOR,

CORROSION

POLICY & OVERSIGHT

Mr. Daniel J. Dunmire

ASSISTANT SECRETARY

OF DEFENSE

(OPERATIONAL ENERGY

PLANS & PROGRAMS)

Honorable Sharon Burke

DIRECTOR,

DEFENSE

PROCUREMENT

& ACQUISITION POLICY

Mr. Shay Assad

UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

(ACQUISITION, TECHNOLOGY AND LOGISTICS)

The Honorable Ashton B. Carter

PRINCIPAL DEPUTY

The Honorable Frank Kendall, III

DIRECTOR,

SMALL BUSINESS

PROGRAMS

Mrs. Linda Oliver

(Acting)

Updated 02/14/2011

DIRECTOR,

JOINT RAPID FIELDING

Mr. Tom Dee

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-3 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

General Timeline of DoD Hybrid Aircraft Interest

Navy investigates

airships for fleet air

defense

Interest in “classic”

airships (primarily Navy)

As AF interest

grows, Navy

withdraws

Joint Staff J-4 sees SkyKitten,

commissions SkyCat 1000

Engineering Study

DUSD (AT&L) sees

technology—asks

DARPA to test

DARPA Walrus

initiated

DARPA Walrus

cancelled

1920s-1950s late 1980s early 1990s 2000 2003 2006 ‘08 ’09 2010 2011

“HAMR” and “HULA”

concepts developed

Akron, Macon,

Shenandoah, etc.

Westinghouse

Sentinel 1000

L-M “AeroCraft”

ATG

SkyCat series

L-M ADP

P-791

Aeros Int’l

Aeroscraft

DARPA continues

Aeros risk reduction

NASA & OSD begin

Project Pelican

LEMV Contract

Award

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-4 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

An air vehicle which combines:

• Aerostatic lift (buoyant) with

• Aerodynamic lift (wing-borne) and

• sometimes, direct (propulsive) lift

Hybrid Airships

Aerostatic Lift (60-100%)

Generated by helium gas Aerodynamic Lift (up to 40%)

Generated by lifting body hull

in cruise flight

Vectored Thrust Lift (up to 25%)

Take off & landing & zero airspeed

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-5 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

Potential Mission Sets

• Heavy Cargo Airlift

– Carry large loads directly from point-of-origin to

point-of-need

– Faster closure times to point-of-need

– Operate independent of most fixed infrastructure

– Ship to Shore cargo operations

• Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance /

Communications

– Tactical communications network backbone

– Cell tower in the sky

– Robust sensor payloads

– Ability to stay aloft for days-weeks

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-6 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

Pelican Technology Demonstrator

• ASD(R&E) and NASA joint effort

• Builds on DARPA investments

• Reduces risk

– Develop Variable Buoyancy system

– Develop modern rigid structure tech

– Study scalability & survivability

• Objectives

– Ballast-free operations

– Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) at

maximum gross weight

– Rigid Structure

• Status

– Funding request in PB FY12

– Flight demonstration FY2013

Perhaps add another image

of the structure being built in

the hangar

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-7 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

Approx. 300L X 150W X 80H (ft)

Long Endurance Multi-Int Vehicle (LEMV)

Technology Demonstrator

• US Army and ISR TF joint effort

• Builds on previous JCTD

investment

• Performance Objectives

– 21 days aloft with 2,500lb payload

– 20,000 ft Mean Sea Level Altitude

– 20 knots cruise/80 knots dash

• Sensor Suite

– Full Motion Video

– Signal Intelligence (SIGINT)

– Tactical Data Link(s)

– Communication Relay

– Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI)

Radar

• Scheduled to fly late summer 2011

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-8 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

Payload vs. Endurance

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000

En

du

ran

ce

(H

ou

rs)

Payload (Pounds)

Small Hybrid

~20 – 80 Tons

Heavy Lift

Global Observer

Magic

Small Hybrid

~ 20-80 Tons

Medium Hybrid

~ 80-200 Tons

Large Hybrid

~ 200-500 Tons

ORION

MQ-1B YMQ-18A MC-12

LEMV

(20K feet)

PELICAN

ISR (Risk reduction

Tech Demo)

Endurance in Days and Weeks

MQ-9A

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-9 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

5 10 20 30 50 100 200 300 500 1000

Maximum Speed (mph)

Merchant Ship

A3XX Jet

Transports

Propeller Transports

C-130

C-121

P-3

747

C-5

Air

Sea

BoxWing

Hybrid

Aircraft

0.30

0.20

0.10

0.05 0.04

0.03

0.02

0.01

0.005 0.004

0.003

Sp

ecif

ic R

esis

tan

ce,

(P /

W*V

)

Co

st p

er t

on

-mile

Land Truck

Train

Courtesy: ASME, Journal of Mechanical Engineering, Volume 72, 1950, Pages 775-781, “What Price Speed – Specific Power Required for Propulsion of

Vehicles” by Gabrielli and Von Karman

Cost versus Speed

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-10 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

Fully Burdened Cost as a Critical Performance Parameter

An

nu

al C

os

t

Time

Investment

Operations &

Support

Disposal

• Research & Development – Concept to first production

– Design, integration, test, demo

– Prototype

• Investment – Production & Deployment

– Initial training, spares, repair

• Operations & Support – Maintenance

– Operating personnel footprint

– Deployment cost

– Equipment, supplies

• Disposal – Demilitarization

R&D

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-11 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

Challenges Forward

• Technical: – Structural material limitations

– Buoyancy Control

– Integration

– Scale

• Operational/CONOPS: – Weather

– Maintenance support

– Manned, Unmanned, or

Optionally Manned

– Survivability

– Ground operations

– On/Off load operations

– Cost

Hybrid Airships

02/15/2011 Page-12 Distribution Statement A: Approved for Public Release

Hybrid Airships

15 February 2011

The Honorable Zachary J. Lemnios

Assistant Secretary of Defense for

Research and Engineering