Stealth Blimp

I was just watching the Show "Mail Call" on the History channel and the featured a new DOD Recon Blimp

They mentioned that Blimps are already hard to see on Radar as Longbow mentioned since Radar waves pass right through most of the Blimp. So I imagine making them very stealthy wouldn't be that hard at all.

They also seem to be very easy and cheap to maintain compared to other aircraft requiring 3 hours maintenance for every 1 hour flight compared to 15 hours maintenance for 1 hour flight time for planes for example.

www.msnbc.msn.com...

[edit on 1-6-2006 by ShadowXIX]

I was just watching that too, and I saw that I was like "Hmm, this would be a great adition to the forums."

You beat me to it.

So making a stealth blimp should be easy, just to shoot down everyone who said it wasn't plausible.

Shattered OUT...

Originally posted by sardion2000
A blimp is just a big amorphous gasbag. The future of aerostat technology will be a rigid, aerodynamic, stealthy flying wing using Vacuum cells for weight and mass reduction, while it gets most of its lift from Aerodynamics and Jet/Turbine/Prop. engines.

Interesting point that you bring up here regarding vacuum cells. I understand the concept, but I would like to know how much progress had been made in this direction.

I would imagine that whatever material used for a vacuum cell would have to be extremely light, extremely strong, and extremely gas impermeable. Has anyone invented such a material yet? Or, better yet, has anyone created a functional vacuum cell yet?

Originally posted by Xenophobe
Interesting point that you bring up here regarding vacuum cells. I understand the concept, but I would like to know how much progress had been made in this direction.

This link details all of the progress that I'm aware of. If such a technology exists and is being tested today and in the past, it will probably be highly classified.

www.gizmag.com...

and it's only a concept which hasn't been built as of yet.

I would imagine that whatever material used for a vacuum cell would have to be extremely light, extremely strong, and extremely gas impermeable. Has anyone invented such a material yet? Or, better yet, has anyone created a functional vacuum cell yet?

I don't know, and quite frankely, I hope not because the reason i'm going into the field I'm going into(Nanomech. Engineering), is because this is one of the primary things I want to build.

here is a semi-technical link talking about the details of such a system.

www.scene.org...

Lighter-than-air (aerostatic) lift may be explained by the principal of buoyancy, also known as the "Archimedes Principal" which states: "an object immersed in a fluid experiences a buoyant force that is equal in magnitude to the force of gravity on the displaced fluid." Stated differently, the lifting capability is equal to the weight of the surrounding fluid mass that it displaces. Displacing a cubic foot of air creates a lifting capacity equal to the weight of a cubic foot of air, which is .0755 pounds per cubic foot. The lifting capability of helium in air is .062828 pounds per cubic foot at sea level. Hydrogen has a greater lifting capability in air than helium and can lift .0724 pounds per cubic foot at sea level. However, the lifting capability of a vacuum (the absence of any gas molecules at all) beats them both at .0755 pounds per cubic foot at sea level, which is equal to the weight of a cubic foot of air. The reason the lifting capacity of hydrogen or helium is less than the lifting capacity of a vacuum is that the weight of the helium or hydrogen must be subtracted from the lifting capacity in order to obtain a net lifting capacity. Helium is heavier than hydrogen and the lighter hydrogen, therefore, has a greater lifting capacity than does helium.

[edit on 1-6-2006 by sardion2000]

Originally posted by Bhadhidar
This is a design I've been toying with since the USAF wrecked the last project I worked on. I call it "ALPHA".

The Lift cells employ the same material NASA uses for its Long Duration Balloons. The bouyency controls are all computerized, employing electro-reactive "artificial muscle-like" polymer fibers which expand/contract in response to electric currents applied to them. Contraction would squeeze the lift cell, increasing internal pressure on the lift gas, making it denser and thus less bouyant; release would allow the gas to expand, becoming less dense and generating more lift. This would allow the craft to drop/gain altitude and correct for pitch and roll.

The perimeter and payload support frames are pre-stressed carbon fiber tubes. Employing sort of an isometric "stress/counter-stress" principle, the frame works like opposing elliptical "leaf" or cart springs to provide strength and rigidity with minimum material weight.

Motive power is provided by idependently fully pivoting electric ducted-fan motors, utilizing quiet, low-speed props optimized for extreme high-altitude performance and based on a design employed by NASA's Helios project.

ALPHA is an LTA/UAV, capable of automonous opertion and multi-function, multi-mission configuration, although recon/long duration surveillence is its primary design goal.

[edit on 30-5-2006 by Bhadhidar]

[edit on 30-5-2006 by Bhadhidar]

[edit on 30-5-2006 by Bhadhidar]

I'm not aware of any current material capable of functioning as the "shell" for a vaccuum cell. Pity, though; sure would open the skies for LAV development (If you'll pardon the pun!). I have heard of a relatively simple "cleaving" process being developed for the production of one and two atom thick metallic and ceramic material "sheets" with supposedly "amazing" properties and strength-to-weight ratios.

Bhadhidar,

Welcome to the fray!

Very nice design. I think the use of electroactive fibers to vary the bouyancy of a lift cell is quite a novel idea! Two thumbs up!

I imaginei the only really big obstacle is maintaining rigidityin such a large shape. To stimulate artificial and natural muscle you need a constant electric charge, and for such a large amount of contracting muscle the power requirements could be fairly large. I'm not sure on wh at kind of power it takes to sustain rigidity in current artificial muscles, but sheer amount of it could become a problem for power generation/supplies. I also read an article on current muscle designs. Apparently even the strongest and most innovative was easily beaten by a high-school girl. Muscles are gonna have to get a lot stronger to be able to sufficiently compress gases such as helium so that it becomes less bouyant.

www.physorg.com...

University of Texas at Dallas nanotechnologists have made alcohol- and hydrogen-powered artificial muscles that are 100 times stronger than natural muscles, able to do 100 times greater work per cycle and produce, at reduced strengths, larger contractions than natural muscles. Among other possibilities, these muscles could enable fuel-powered artificial limbs, "smart skins" and morphing structures for air and marine vehicles, autonomous robots having very long mission capabilities and smart sensors that detect and self-actuate to change the environment.


While humans on long, strenuous missions are able to carry the food that powers their bodies, today's most athletically capable robots cannot freely move about, since they are wired to stationary electrical power sources. Though batteries can be used for autonomous robots, they store too little energy and deliver it at too low a rate for prolonged or intense activity. To solve these problems, the team from UTD's NanoTech Institute developed two different types of artificial muscles that, like natural muscles, convert the chemical energy of an energetic fuel to mechanical energy.

The breakthroughs are described in the March 17 issue of the prestigious journal Science.

The development of these revolutionary muscles was motivated by a visit of Dr. John Main from the Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) to Dr. Ray H. Baughman, Robert A. Welch Professor of Chemistry and director of the UTD NanoTech Institute. During the visit, Main described his visions of a future that could include such advancements as artificial muscles for autonomous humanoid robots that protect people from danger, artificial limbs that act like natural limbs and exoskeletons that provide super-human strength to firefighters, astronauts and soldiers -- all of which are able to perform lengthy missions by using shots of alcohol as a highly energetic fuel.

Me=pwned.

That was an old article that I read-back around Sept '05. Still I suspect you would need a generator of some sort to provide a constant source of electric current.

Originally posted by Darkpr0
Me=pwned.

That was an old article that I read-back around Sept '05. Still I suspect you would need a generator of some sort to provide a constant source of electric current.

RTA. These muscles are powered by a mixture of Hydrogen and Alcohol.

100 times stronger than natural muscles Man I didnt know that stuff was close to that strong and powered by alcohol Amazing.

I always invisoned if the made real exoskeletons for soldiers they would be made up of some type of artificial muscles rather then pistons and motors but I never imagine they would get that strong this fast.

You could really be talking some super-human strength levels with suits like that.

I'd have to agree with Shadow on this one, exo-suits with pistons/hydraulics can only do so much, artifical muscle and nano-enhancements are probably the ultimate build for an exo-suit.

Shattered OUT...

Originally posted by Darkpr0
Muscles are gonna have to get a lot stronger to be able to sufficiently compress gases such as helium so that it becomes less bouyant.

They also don't have to be that strong for a Vacuum lifting system. They just have to be strong enough to push against the pressure of the Atmosphere to change it's shape or expand the displacement to increase lift, etc.

longbow
And you cannot make it optically invisible because such stalth skin weights too much.

my first post was right before yours, showing what you say "cannot" be possible...??? Do ya at least look at other peoples pictures? let alone the words.

A stealthy blimp is 100% possable...all it takes is some deep pockets...I would be stunned if the US Gov doesn't allready posses them.

BTW, I also feel 100 times stronger when powered by alcohol.

I imaginei the only really big obstacle is maintaining rigidityin such a large shape.

One last thing. A large airship made of Vacuum cells would get it's lift from multiple cells, not one singular cell providing lift like in a conventional aerostat.

[edit on 2-6-2006 by sardion2000]

[edit on 2-6-2006 by sardion2000]

best way to test the viiblity of a shealth blimp would be over a populated area and watch the area news if there isnt a big deal made about the "ufo" then you know that you did your job designing the craft and that it works minus a few nutcases that report they have "seen" an object.

High Alt recon spy blip could be used to pick up communications of other militaries and bounce them back up to a satilite then to hq. Electron warfare and spying with weaponized versons later.

I always thought a UAV carrier shealth blimp that act as a mothership aka sky carrier where you can have your blimp floating high above and out of theatre.

What about this thought Super High alt blimp shealth blimp equiped with rods of GOD they wouldnt have to go threw the atmosphere but still would have great volicity!

Or even as a sf or ranger bat development ship? a huge div or bat jumping at High alt for a mission as the glide to thier target.

Originally posted by Murcielago


BTW, I also feel 100 times stronger when powered by alcohol.

Man that was great funniest thing I read on ATS in awhile.

New meaning for the term Beer muscles

Originally posted by ShadowXIX

Man that was great funniest thing I read on ATS in awhile.

I was actually thinking of saying that, but 28.8 dialup loads too slow and I'm too lazy to keep checking back if its loaded yet and so forth. Makes it difficult viewing...ahem...multimedia files.

Just kidding. Dialup sucks.

Since "griefers" were kind enough to have the Wiki page on the stealth blimp deleted, the main source for stealth blimp news now has a new home:

The Stealth Blimp dot com