France Develops An Airship For Surveillance And Tracking

RT: Solar surveillance: Airship designed for stratospheric snooping enters development stage (VIDEO)

A French weapons manufacturer is developing a stratospheric airship, dubbed the Stratobus, that could act as a high-altitude eye in the sky for government agencies around the world.

The €17 million grant from a French government investment program will go towards what Thales Alenia Space described as a “vehicle halfway between a drone and a satellite.”

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WNU Editor: The company is touting the civilians uses for this airship. But the military applications for this airship .... from observation and tracking to communications and GPS .... are probably its biggest selling points.

A Bit Of Zeppelin History Up For Auction

Up in flames: The Zeppelins would explode in a fireball similar to the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, above, when the hydrogen-filled airship burst into flames after hitting a mooring mast

How Fearless British Pilots Downed Giant German Zeppelins Using Exploding DARTS In The First World War -- the Daily Mail

It was the logical way to take out targets that were essentially massive balloons filled with flammable gas.

When British First World War pilots were asked to destroy German Zeppelins, they did not turn to guns - but a giant exploding dart.

Now one of the foot-long steel-tipped darts is being sold at auction, without the explosives, and is expected to fetch £1,200.

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My Comment: They will get their price.

U.S. Army Shows Renewed Interest In Zeppelins

In demand: The U.S. Army has ordered three new airships to be built and fitted with high-tech surveillance equipment so they can be used in Afghanistan

Are Zeppelins About To Take Off Again - Or Is It Just Hot Air? -- The Daily Mail

As we soar up into the grey skies above Lake Constance - propellers whirling, seat belts tightly fastened and everyone brandishing their cameras in excitement - something feels ever so slightly strange.

It could be the gentle breeze coming in through the wide open windows and the long ropes dangling in front of the cockpit in an alarmingly relaxed way.

Or perhaps it's the fact that the twin 200hp engines are so quiet I can hear my fellow passengers unwrapping toffees and whispering, and Hans-Paul the pilot clearing his throat and swallowing.

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My Comment: What was once old .... is now new and needed.