UnChummed airships

[Ya Sam]

"Lockheed Martin (Akron, Ohio) has received a contract for approximately $10 
million (USD) to further develop advanced flexible composite laminate 
material technology and next-generation hull material for unmanned, 
inflatable, helium-filled, high-altitude military surveillance airships 
under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Integrated 
Sensor is Structure (ISIS) program.

The lighter-than-air craft, which Lockheed Martin emphasizes is not a 
dirigible, is a super-inflated structure that will be significantly larger 
than the 3.7 million-ft3 (104,772m3) Missile Defense Agency’s High Altitude 
Airship Lockheed has built for similar applications. The composite laminate 
material developed in the ISIS program will provide all structural support 
for the airship, which will operate at an altitude of approximately 70,000 
ft (21,336m)" ...

"Under the two-year contract, the ISIS program will develop the basic 
technologies necessary to integrate a sensor/surveillance package directly 
into the proposed airship’s structure.

Lockheed Martin has supplied tethered aerostat surveillance systems to the 
U.S. Army for deployment in Iraq and to the U.S. Air Force to support border 
patrol operations."

http://www.compositesworld.com/hpc/issues/2006/November/1492/1

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