"The Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle" Topic

"Sure, it took an extra year or so, but Northrop Grumman has finally penciled in the first flight of the giant surveillance airship it's building for the U.S. Army. The Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle — a football-field-size, helium-filled robot blimp fitted with sensors and data-links — should take to the air over Lakehurst, New Jersey, the first or second week of June. K.C. Brown, Jr., Northrop's director of Army programs, crows: "We're about to fly the thing!"

It's fair to say Northrop and the Army are crossing their collective fingers for the flight to actually take place, and smoothly. Giant airships promise huge benefits — namely, low cost and long flight times — but it's proved incredibly hard to build and equip the massive blimps with military-grade sensors and communications … and fill them with helium.

The Air Force's highly computerized (and potenitally missile-armed) Blue Devil 2 airship recently ran into integration problems, forcing the flying branch to cancel a planned test run in Afghanistan. (Although the service had never been too hot on airships in the first place.) The Navy meanwhile grounded its much smaller MZ-3A research blimp for a lack of work until the Army paid to take it over. The LEMV seemed to be losing air, too, as Northrop and the Army repeatedly delayed its first flight and planned combat deployment originally slated for the end of 2011.

As recently as last month Northrop and the Army declined to comment on the airship's new flight schedule. Northrop VP Brad Metzger's boast from last summer that the $500 USD-million LEMV prototype would "redefine persistent surveillance" seemed hollow.

But at a special forces industry conference here in Tampa, Northrop's Brown surprised Danger Room with a hard date range: LEMV will lift off between June 6 and 10, he says. After a brief trial around Lakehurst, the 300-foot-long airship will motor south to Florida to be mated up with a custom-designed gondola containing the blimp's cameras and radios.

If the gondola fits as planned and all the gear functions, the pilotless LEMV will cross the Atlantic in "early winter," bound for "a theater" for a front-line demonstration, Brown says. We're sure the "theater" in question is Afghanistan. If war commanders like what they see in their new giant spy blimp, the Army could order up more copies, Brown says.

Never mind airworthiness and sensor integration: The biggest danger, according to Brown, is the weather. Airships are "subject to buffeting by winds and by thunderstorms." Operators have to plan carefully to keep their airships away from storms.

Despite airships' checkered past, Northrop is optimistic the LEMV will survive the elements and its combat debut. The company is already looking beyond the initial Afghanistan trial. The LEMV can do more than hover and spy. It's also a potentially useful cargo carrier. The current model can carry 20 tons of supplies. A scaled-up version could carry hundreds of tons — and at a fraction of the cost of fixed-wing airplanes.

Noting Pakistan's continuing blockade of roads into Afghanistan, Brown proposes that the LEMV could help the Army remove its weapons and gear from from the landlocked country as U.S. troops withdraw. "It presents an attractive alternative."

Yes, if the giant airship actually flies in June — and works as advertised"
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Which defense had this air vehicle?
Wasn't easy to get it down?

Amicalement
Armand

Giant airships promise huge benefits — namely, low cost and long flight times…the $500 USD USD-million LEMV prototype

Never thought of $500 USD mil as low-cost. I can see it's value but I wonder how successful it would be in a shooting zone vs a sea surveillance role. Would heat reflecting off it allow shoulder launched SAMs to target it? Can it fly over the ceiling of small arms and AA fire? With hi-tech cameras and radios I would hope that there's some kind of self-destruct mechanism. If not then keep it to a supply role and it would be fine, nothing they wouldn't already know about, just an expensive slow target.

"Never thought of $500 USD USD mil as low-cost".

I generally concur, but a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to.

Seems like a good, big, SAM magnet to me, unless it flies really high.

Shades of Bladerunner, since no doubt these will be used domestically as well, for surveillance at home – and you thought they were just for advertising about trips off-world.

Hydrogen is clearly the way forward though.

"Hydrogen is clearly the way forward though"

Shades of the Hindenburg anyone? Robert

US Army Airship With Unblinking Eye

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $517 USD million agreement to develop up to three Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) systems for the U.S. Army.
by Staff Writers
Melbourne FL (SPX) Jun 15, 2010
A new hybrid airship weapons system, just larger than the length of a football field, will take to the skies in just 18 months to provide an unblinking, persistent eye for more than three weeks at a time to aid U.S. Army troops in Afghanistan, according to Northrop Grumman officials.

The company has announced it has been awarded a $517 USD million ( Pounds 350.6 million) agreement to develop up to three Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) systems for the U.S. Army. Northrop Grumman has designed a system with plug-and-play capability to readily integrate into the Army's existing common ground station command centers and ground troops in forward operating bases-the main objective to provide U.S. warfighters with persistent ISR capability to increase awareness of the ever changing battlefield.

"This opportunity leverages our longstanding leadership positions in developing innovative unmanned air vehicles, C4ISR weapon systems, and leading edge systems integration, and moves Northrop Grumman into this rapidly emerging market space of airships for the military and homeland defense arenas," said Gary Ervin, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector.

Under the agreement, awarded by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, Northrop Grumman will design, develop and test a long-duration hybrid airship system within an 18-month time period, and then transport the asset to the Middle East for military assessment.

"It is critical that our warfighters are equipped with more enabling integrated ISR capability to tackle today's and tomorrow's conflicts," said Alan Metzger, Northrop Grumman LEMV program manager.

"Our offering supports the Army's Joint Military Utility Assessment that this disruptive innovation must meet the Army's objective of a persistent unblinking stare while providing increased operational utility to battlefield commanders. Part of our innovative offering includes open architecture design in the payload bay to allow sensor changes by service personnel in the field."

LEMV will sustain altitudes of 20,000 feet for a three-week period, and it will operate within national and international airspace. It will be forward-located to support extended geostationary operations from austere operating locations using beyond-line-of-sight command and control.

Northrop Grumman has teamed with Hybrid Air Vehicles, Ltd. of the United Kingdom using its HAV304 platform, Warwick Mills, ILC Dover, AAI Corporation, SAIC, and a team of technology leaders from 18 U.S. states to build LEMV. Northrop Grumman will provide system integration expertise and flight and ground control operations to safely take off and land the unmanned vehicle for worldwide operations."

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Good one kyotebluer . Robert

" 'Hydrogen is clearly the way forward though'.

'Shades of the Hindenburg anyone? Robert' ".

Surely that was just a one-off mistake, right, and probably wouldn't be likely to happen again (heavy sarcasm intended, in case you can't tell by reading).

And besides, since few read history, how will they even know about the Hindenberg disaster?

Robert

Against a first rate military with organized air defense, someone could go balloon busting. But for fighting the last two wars, Achmed can't touch them. The shoulder fired SAMs can't go high enough or see far enough – these things are supposed to hang out at an altitude of five miles or so. Predator's not much good in a dogfight either, being no match for a P-51. Seems to be useful anyway. And Hindenburg didn't go down due to hydrogen lifting gas so much as an absurdly flammable envelope and an enormous electrical igniter disguised as a mooring tower. It's a standard high school chemistry exercise to *extinguish* flames with hydrogen (pure H2 won't react with itself – so it smothers the flame). The big problem with big airships is what got USS Macon and USS Akron – that much surface area is prone to getting tossed around in very stressful and potentially opposite ways in bad weather.

300 feet long? That's a small blimp!

However, I think you can get solar cells light enough to provide power during the day (most clouds are below 20,000 ft), and a relatively small generator at night.

Some disagree about the cotton-canvas covering Rubber Suit Theatre. There have been many theories put out. I even watched the Mythbusters episode where they put the cotton-canvas covering to the test *smile*

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The weather problem with vehicles like this would certainly be a problem as it has been for decades with the USS Shenandoah,USS Macon and USS Akron being good examples. And IMO that would be the best time to get around their use.Robert

Should these actually be deployed in any theater, I suspect there will be a corresponding spike in the interests of amateur model rocketry…..

;-)

20,000+ feet is at LEAST 4 miles. I am not aware of many weapon systems that can fire straight up four miles. And that's the published altitude. I'm sure the actual one is different.

500 million dollars is a drop in the bucket for the government. A billion here and a billion there saved… Soon you're talking about real money. MOney spent to let our guys see the bad guys first is well spent money.

This is hardly the first such experiment and other systems have been operationally fielded, like the Blue Devil aerostat in Afghanistan. This is just an extension of the concept of systems already in use.