Lockheed Martin High Altitude Blimps. HAAs, HALE-D, ISIS

I was going to post this, but then my computer died. It does look like a modern blimp except I'm pretty sure they don't launch that way up...Some sort of colour change/distortion on the fins when it's going up, would be cool to know more about that craft, assuming it's not a fake.

The comparison is interesting, I had all but written off that other photo as a balloon (still could be) but it does look pretty damn similar, cam anyone flip and do an overlay of the two?
 
https://web.archive.org/web/2013073...ro/documents/P11-1155528_ISIS Litho Print.pdf
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) ISIS program goal is to develop a large dual-band aperture radar integrated into a stratospheric airship. The ISIS system will enable autonomy with years of persistence providing Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C2ISR) for air, dismount, ground, maritime and foliage penetration tracking of moving target indicators.
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Or maybe the HAA / HALE-D
https://web.archive.org/web/2012012...s/products/lighter-than-air-vehicles/haa.html
The Lockheed Martin High Altitude Airship (HAA™) – and its sub-scale demonstrator, the High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator (HALE-D) – is an un-tethered, unmanned lighter-than-air vehicle that will operate above the jet stream in a geostationary position to deliver persistent station keeping as a surveillance platform, telecommunications relay, or a weather observer. The HAA also provides the Warfighter affordable, ever-present Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance and rapid communications connectivity over the entire battle space. The technology is available now and ready for integration and flight test.
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That thing looks awesome

What also amazes me is how long blimps and balloons (less fancy words for airships) have been both commercially and militarily operated, and yet are still being technologically refined upon and put to good use.


Giffard Airship 1852
London Science Museum​

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Saw his puppy in Kuwait up near the Iraq border last year. Tethered, my impression 1s maybe 60' long, I am told it houses early warning radar watching the border. It had two red flashers at night, which would have confused me if I had not seen it by daylight. The number of airships out there is larger than I had realized, and now we have some sleek metallic ones -- I imagine we'll see some interesting UFO reports based on those! (This one not so much -- it had been there, I was told, since the last war with Iraq, so anybody other than me who saw it was pretty used to it...)

Edit -- bee doing some research outta curiosity -- looks like a MASSIVELY underestimated the size, if it is the model I think it is, based on where it was, it may have been a couple of hndred feet long! Lacking conventional points of reference, judging the size of an unknown in the air is HARD. Worth keeping in mind...

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EM, I'm impressed that you found something with a length specification -- I spent way too much time wading through the manufacturers website, where they proudly boast of everythign EXCEPT length. Eventually found something showing that they do a range of these from around 10 meters to in excess of 70, and something else elsewhere indicating Kuwait was purchasing some of the bigger size.
 
EM, I'm impressed that you found something with a length specification -- I spent way too much time wading through the manufacturers website, where they proudly boast of everythign EXCEPT length. Eventually found something showing that they do a range of these from around 10 meters to in excess of 70, and something else elsewhere indicating Kuwait was purchasing some of the bigger size.

The one in Kabul is 117 feet as mentioned in the article I linked.
 
Is that the same model of blimp that broke loose in Maryland a few years ago and then rampaged around Pennsylvania for a while? That one was pretty big.
 
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