Airships lift off with £350m contract
AIRSHIPS are set for a revival after US defence giant Northrop Grumman was awarded a $517 million (£350 million) contract by the US Army last week.
Northrop and its UK-based partner Hybrid Air Vehicles have been tasked with building three slightly heavier-than-air unmanned aircraft for Afghan-istan. Northrop beat Lockheed Martin to the job.
The airships are expected to have homeland security as well as military applications and could be used to carry cargo. The US Navy retired its last hybrid airships in the Fifties.
The new generation of air-ships require propulsion to take off and forward movement to remain aloft.