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Getbig Main Boards => Gossip & Opinions => Topic started by: magikusar on December 06, 2012, 01:12:07 AM
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http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/29-08-2012/122013-airship_afghanistan-0/ (http://english.pravda.ru/science/tech/29-08-2012/122013-airship_afghanistan-0/)
If further testing of the new airship is successful and there are no serious accidents, in 2013 LEMV will be deployed to Afghanistan. Staying at a height of several kilometers, this airship will patrol a vast area and continuously monitor the movement of militants as well as the roads and provide surveillance in all weather conditions, both by day and night.
It will be difficult, if not impossible, to take it down because the portable SAM missiles do not fly to such heights, neither do bullets fired from automatic weapons. In addition, the bottom surface of the airship does not get heated. In the future it will also be used to transport military loads of up to seven tons to a distance of 3,800 km at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour.
Airship LEMV is somewhat smaller than the legendary "Zeppelin" and has a length of 91 meters, but, nevertheless, can continuously stay in the air for three weeks, carry optoelectronic sensors, electronic warfare, radar, and repeater equipment. To perform the same tasks LEMV consumes ten times less fuel than an aircraft with a similar purpose. UAVs, of course, also consume little fuel, and hitting them is a difficult task, but every such device requires a trained pilot. For patrolling a large area too many of these vehicles are required, which, based on the criterion of "cost-effectiveness" turns out to be not that effective.
Interestingly, the LEMV is optionally manned, that is, it can carry a crew or can be controlled remotely. In the latter case, the control group of 18 airships needs only ten people in the area of deployment. Each UAV needs its own driver. In addition, the combat load of an airship and a small UAV is simply incomparable. This means that combat effectiveness of the airship is many times greater.