Friday, March 29, 2024
Contact    |    RSS icon Twitter icon Facebook icon  
Unexplained Mysteries
You are viewing: Home > News > Science & Technology > News story
Welcome Guest ( Login or Register )  
All ▾
Search Submit

Science & Technology

Pentagon develops UFO-like airship

By T.K. Randall
January 9, 2013 · Comment icon 33 comments

Image Credit: Aeroscraft
A vast 230ft airship may soon replace conventional aircraft for hauling cargo over long distances.
Designed by Aeroscraft in conjunction with the Pentagon, the 'Pelican' looks more like Thunderbird 2 than a traditional airship. Designed to carry up to 10 tons of cargo across large distances the ship uses a fraction of the fuel of a standard aircraft. The Pentagon is also hoping that in the future such ships will be useful for surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

If the prototype proves a success, there are plans to scale things up with an even larger 450ft model capable of hauling 66 tons of cargo. It is also possible that the ships could serve as luxury private yachts for the rich or as a vehicle for sightseeing and long-distance cruises for tourists.
Developed by Aeroscraft, the 230-foot-long prototype airship called the Pelican is designed to lift up to 10 tons of cargo across long distances, using a fraction of the fuel needed by an airplane.



Source: Dvice.com | Comments (33)




Other news and articles
Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #24 Posted by Cherokee Wolf 11 years ago
Very cool!
Comment icon #25 Posted by and then 11 years ago
Lets bring backe commerial at a gasZepperlin for world wide cargo and tourist travel what a way to tour the world what a gas and lets use Hydrogen as the fuel safer than gasoline and more plentyful. I also wonder if it could be profitable for "cruises". Transatlantic/Pacific travels with beautiful vistas. Shore excursions could be a bit dicey though
Comment icon #26 Posted by cenobite 11 years ago
is this actually real? i find this video quite bizarre, why would the military advertise new tech?
Comment icon #27 Posted by Uncle Sam 11 years ago
I wonder how it would hold up against air-defenses... Guessing it will only be deployed after all anti-air defenses are taken out and we have air superiority. Being a hydrogen craft that is basically one giant balloon floating in the sky, it would be quite easy to be downed and means tons of equipment lost in battle. Once again our government isn't thinking about what could happen and how to protect such a precious aircraft.
Comment icon #28 Posted by aztek 11 years ago
it doesn't matter, what matters is to secure funds.
Comment icon #29 Posted by and then 11 years ago
I wonder how it would hold up against air-defenses... Guessing it will only be deployed after all anti-air defenses are taken out and we have air superiority. Being a hydrogen craft that is basically one giant balloon floating in the sky, it would be quite easy to be downed and means tons of equipment lost in battle. Once again our government isn't thinking about what could happen and how to protect such a precious aircraft. When you think of it, cargo aircraft are just as vulnerable. The key will be to only use them in situations for resupply not too close to a hostile area. Massive amounts o... [More]
Comment icon #30 Posted by Zaphod222 11 years ago
Lets bring backe commerial at a gasZepperlin for world wide cargo and tourist travel what a way to tour the world what a gas and lets use Hydrogen as the fuel safer than gasoline and more plentyful. Hydrogen is "safe"? You better ask the Hindenburgh crew about that! Maybe you meant to write "helium". Helium is safe alright, but it is also prohibitively expensive to produce. The military, being goverment (i.e. tax-payer) funded, has of course no budget qualms... they do not have a market place to answer to. But for private travel and transport, the zeppelin age is gone. Unless you find a way to... [More]
Comment icon #31 Posted by Zaphod222 11 years ago
I also wonder if it could be profitable for "cruises". Transatlantic/Pacific travels with beautiful vistas. Shore excursions could be a bit dicey though I think for luxury cruises, zeppelins could find a market niche. The question is if the market is big anough to develop and produce enough of these things to make it viable. I suspect the market niche is too small.
Comment icon #32 Posted by DieChecker 11 years ago
Unless you find a way to produce cheap helium. That is not going to happen, unless they figure out cheap nuclear fusion. Most helium, AFAIK, comes from natural gas deposits were it is pulled up with everything else and seperated in an early stage of refinement. Otherwise helium is very rare in Earth's atmosphere and would be impossible to get cheaply in any real amounts. Hydrogen on the other hand can be made from water. Speculation on the Hindenburg is that the skin of the ship was actually a major factor in why it was not safe. Hydrogen when it burns is almost colorless and burns so fast as ... [More]
Comment icon #33 Posted by ~C.S.M~ 11 years ago
Not front line maybe but imagine if you wanted to move all your military to an allied country next door, such as what they did during the Gulf wars. Rather than dozens of cargo planes flying in and out, it would just require one or two blimps to carry all the equipment in. Everything would be on site incredibly quickly, all together, ready to operate much faster and most of all in these economic times, much, much cheaper! I am not sure on the height limits of the vehicle but most enemies of the state tend to countries with military limitations rather than Russia or China who could counter it! ... [More]


Please Login or Register to post a comment.


Our new book is out now!
Book cover

The Unexplained Mysteries
Book of Weird News

 AVAILABLE NOW 

Take a walk on the weird side with this compilation of some of the weirdest stories ever to grace the pages of a newspaper.

Click here to learn more

We need your help!
Patreon logo

Support us on Patreon

 BONUS CONTENT 

For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can gain access to a wide range of exclusive perks including our popular 'Lost Ghost Stories' series.

Click here to learn more

Top 10 trending mysteries
Recent news and articles