WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is researching the prospect of
deploying airships to Iraq, both for surveillance as well as for troop transport.
Officials said the army has been briefed on the use of airships equipped
with sensors that could provide continuous surveillance over insurgency
strongholds in Iraq. The airships would ensure real-time information on
insurgency threats to army commands and ease the burden on the Army's unmanned aerial vehicle fleet..
"The capability of an airship would be much greater than that of a
tactical UAV," an official said. "We could be provided with a comprehensive
situational awareness picture before patrols and other missions."
The Defense Department has held a competition to provide a blimp for
troop transport. The finalists were identified as Lockheed Martin and a tiny
California firm, Worldwide Aeros.
Both companies have won a total of $3 million in awards to provide the
Pentagon with preliminary design work for the air troop transport. Worldwide
Aeros, with 40 employees, manufactures blimps for flying billboards.
In September 2006, the Pentagon would determine which one of the
companies would win a $100 million contract. In the first stage of the
project, the winner would build a 900-foot airship prototype. At a later
stage, the U.S. military could order a fleet of the blimps in what could
cost up to $11 billion.
Another company, Blackwater USA, has presented a concept for a 120-foot
airship packed with infrared sensors, CCD cameras and meant to provide
reconnaissance for up to four days at a time. Executives said the 120-foot
airship would be ready by the end of 2006.
"If bad guys are setting up IEDs on the side of the road, we can see
real-time what's going on," Blackwater USA vice president Chris Taylor said.
The development of the airship marked a new direction for Blackwater
USA. Blackwater has provided thousands of security guards and bodyguards for
the State Department in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Officials said the military deployment of airships could ensure the
retention of UAVs for combat missions. The military has deployed about 1,000
UAVs in Iraq, many of them produced by Israel.