Increasing demand for persistent surveillance is driving renewed interest in airships, with their use by U.S. forces in Afghanistan likely in the near term and research underway to exploit their advantages and overcome the disadvantages in the longer term.rnWhile the U.S. Army wants a prototype hybrid airship with three-week endurance for deployment within 18 months, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) and U.S. Air Force have awarded Lockheed Martin a $400-million contract for a radar-equipped airship demonstrator with year-long endurance, to fly in late 2012.rnThe one-third-scale demonstrator to be built under Darpa's Integrated Sensor Is Structure (ISIS) program would prove out envelope, sensor and power system technology for a much larger operational airship carrying a football-field-sized radar array to 70,000 ft. and staying on station for 10 years, providing air and ground surveillance out to 600 km. (375 mi.).
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