Anon

100 miles 'from the front' is what i said.

And how bout before the war's even started, for ODS/OIF style buildups? Seems like it would be great for a lot of trash hauler' missions- if it worked and wasnt crazy expensive.

Anon

Did someone uninvent earth-bound tethers?

Blimp comes in burdened with tanks, lands...tether it with onsite lines...problem solved.

Officer of Engineers

I'm thinking this would have been great for Operation AIRBORNE DRAGON in Northern Iraq.

__________________
Chimo

Jay

What a waste!!

DID has covered the WALRUS airship project before, and explained why DARPA believed the time might be right to build an airship that could lift 1-2 million pounds half-way around the world in a week. We've continued to follow the project here, including the US Congressional Budget Office's favorable report on WALRUS vs. other long-range air and sea transport alternatives, and a look at the interesting crew at Aeros, Inc., who won one of the $3 million preliminary design R&D contracts. Now Noah Shachtman of DefenseTech reports:

"But it wasn't meant to be. Darpa took away the fiscal year 2006 funding for the Walrus. And the agency's 2007 budget request calls for "termination of the Walrus effort." Now, the Army's Surface Deployment and Distribution Command had its own plans for a heavy-hauling airship, too. I'm checking to see if they're still interested. Keep your fingers crossed."

Actually, as a DARPA source notes, Congress canceled the walrus effort by zeroing the program in the FY06 Appropriations. It's interesting to counterpoise that decision with this recent information...

"Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley told Inside the Air Force earlier this month that he is interested in exploring whether the JCA [DID: smaller C-27J or C-295 aircraft] could one day be used as a C-130 "surrogate." The four-star spoke to ITAF on Capitol Hill March 9 [DID: 2006].

If I had something like [a nimble JCA platform] in the Afghan campaign and the Iraqi campaign, I would have felt a whole lot better because you can get in and out of smaller places, you can get out of runways that measure just 2,500 feet," Moseley said last fall at an event in Washington (ITAF, Oct. 14, 2005, p1).

A Jan. 27 Congressional Research Service report, citing Air University analysis, highlights some of the Hercules' shortcomings. "It does not appear that the C-130 is best suited to deliver supplies and reinforcements to U.S. ground forces operating in remote areas. The C-130 requires approximately 5,000 feet of runway to operate," states the report, crafted by CRS analyst Christopher Bolkcom."

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/...index.php#more

__________________
A grain of wheat eclipsed the sun of Adam !!

Jay

For more reading....

http://www.darpa.mil/body/news/2005/walrus.pdf

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/...lift/index.php

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/...ound/index.php

Gun Grape

But You want to use it the smart way. A large scale replacement for the C-5/RoRo missions, using existing ports and runways.

DoD wan't this to be world wide capable so we don't have to rely on those same ports and airfields. They want to drop that Div worth of gear at Camp Rhino. With no on site prep. Like staging of ballast, replacement gas or gas storage tanks w/pumps or tethering points.

For how you want to use it, the Walrus, Skycat and CL160 would work like a charm.

Gun Grape

DOA. Boeing and Cargolifter signed a LoI in 02. Cargolifter and ATG teamed up the same year.ATG owns World Skycat. Both declared Bankruptcy by the end of 02.

The ATG website and Name are for sale.

CargoLifter went out of buisness and their blimp hanger in Germany (suppose to be the largest in the world) is now a Tropical resort.

http://www.cargolifter.com/

World Skycat hasn't updated its site since 02. In there, the Skycat 20 was suppose to have a first flight in 02 and they were going to take it on an around the world tour in 05. Last year during talks in Col. They claim a first flight in 07.

http://www.worldskycat.com/

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs....508210310/1046