TECH TALK

November 2004

Giant Airship Slated for Iraq Mission

edited by Robert H. Williams

The U.S. Army is planning on using what is described as the world’s largest unmanned airship to support ground forces in Iraq.

The airship, 122 feet long and 37 feet wide, was designed for Army surveillance and reconnaissance missions. It is being tested by developer Bosh Aerospace Division, of San Diego, Calif.

“The Ace Airship flies at altitudes in excess of 5,000 feet, can stay airborne for up to 36 hours, and can carry several hundred pounds of payload,” noted John Henson, a BASD official.

The company also has produced and operated other surveillance airships for border and waterway surveillance, search and rescue, instrumentation for missile data collection, and radio relay operations.

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