Wonder what kind of Troop payload it could carry. Could be one heck of a Paratrooper drop...
Ping!
Place your Dinner order now and get No Delivery Charge on your first order of Authentic Chinese Food right from behind the Wall.
It’s Zepplin Tung!
Love, Ian Dunross
pfl
I wonder how they accounted for the expansion of helium with altitude (a helium balloon eventually bursts because the pressure inside the balloon increases vis-a-vis the decreasing air pressure outside).
12 miles up is not the edge of space, which is about 60 miles up.
They could build a giant airship, load 10,000 paratroopers on it along with 12 children. It could spend a month crossing the Pacific while live streaming the antics of the children to keep us from shooting it down and the drop the paratroopers on Kansas City.
And we would lack the moral courage to stop it.
From the campaign trail, 2008...
Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs
February 29, 2008 :: News
MissileThreat.com
A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense.
The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows:
Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington.
First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.[i.e. not win it]
Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.
I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.
I will not weaponize space.
I will slow our development of future combat systems.
And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.
Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.
You know where I stand. I've fought for open, ethical and accountable government my entire public life. I don't switch positions or make promises that can't be kept. I don't posture on defense policy and I don't take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my sole priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people. Thanks so much.
Article: Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs:
http://web.archive.org/web/20090412030633/http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp
"MissileThreat.com is a project of The Claremont Institute devoted to understanding and promoting the requirements for the strategic defense of the United States."
___________________________________________________
I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.
I will not weaponize space.
___________________________________________________
Also from 2008...
2008 Pentagon Report (March 2008):
China's Growing Military Space Power
By Leonard David
Special Correspondent, SPACE.com
March 6, 2008
GOLDEN, Colorado — A just-released Pentagon report spotlights a growing U.S. military concern that China is developing a multi- dimensional program to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by its potential adversaries during times of crisis or conflict.
Furthermore, last year's successful test by China of a direct-ascent, anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon to destroy its own defunct weather satellite, the report adds, underscores that country's expansion from the land, air, and sea dimensions of the traditional battlefield into the space and cyber-space domains.
Although China's commercial space program has utility for non- military research, that capability demonstrates space launch and control know-how that have direct military application. Even the Chang'e 1 — the Chinese lunar probe now circling the Moon — is flagged in the report as showcasing China's ability "to conduct complicated space maneuvers — a capability which has broad implications for military counterspace operations."
To read the entire publication [29.67MB/pdf], see U.S. Dept of Defense:
12 miles up is 63,360. According to aerospaceweb.org the F15 has a service ceiling of 65,000’ and an absolute ceiling of 100,000’. We can still brast their brimp from the skry.
America is the worlds only supplier of Helium. Did the Clinton foundation team arrange a sale to the Chicoms?
I live near the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. They are doing a multi-year test of two tethered Aerostats that are almost 250 ft. long. Apparently they are an early warning system for missile launches inbound.
The system is outrageously expensive and dependent on the weather.
They fly at a constant 10,000 ft. My son goes to school about 50 miles away and he can see them from a local Walmart parking lot.
There's no stealth about this thing. It would have some excellent uses as a commercial vehicle.
250 feet is tiny for an airship. It’s roughly the size of the semi-rigids with which Goodyear is replacing their blimp fleet. It holds up to 14 people and a total usable lift of about 2 tons.
The design of the Chinese craft isn’t clear. The illustration that accompanies this article shows a single large propeller in the tail, which suggests a rigid, or perhaps a semirigid. A Chinese source shows 4 side mounted propellers, which would seem to be a much more sensible design, but again suggests a semi-rigid or rigid design.
As someone else noted, gas expansion would be a major issue (as would ballasting).
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/g913/us-armys-new-battle-blimp-takes-flight/