Since the tragic last flight of the LZ-129 Hindenburg the airship industry has been virtually non-existent.

Though to many the airship is still synonymous with vulnerability, some can look past that and see it’s potential. One of those is Hybrid Air Vehicles, a company based in Bedfordshire, England, who have just won a £315 million pound contract from the American Department of Defense. The idea of airships on a battle field might sound ill thought out, but the technology that surrounds them has improved dramatically since the 1930s.

Bullets, and missiles, will pass directly through the envelope of the airship due to the low pressure of the balloon. Combined with a redesign of the airships shape (which means that it now uses the wind to get more lift instead of battling against it), an ability to climb to 20,000 feet, and circle for up to 21 days, means that it will be an impressive asset in military surveillance. As an added bonus it uses less fuel and can also land on water. In fact it’s been described as being virtually indestructible, after being shot with a 120 half-inch armour piercing rounds the prototype was still flying around three days later.

The airships will be going into service in early 2012, but the military has first dibs on them. The first ones for civilian usage aren’t expected to be ready until 2015. It’s hard to predict whether there’ll be a large take up, and with a London to New York taking 2 days it’s possible that they’ll be competing more with cruises than with airlines. However, as Gordon Taylor, Marketing Director at Hybrid View, goes some way to allaying potential customers fears by saying “The only thing you’d need to worry about is how to get over the hangover from all those cocktails”.

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