|
|
Date:
Contact: |
December 9,
2005
Mark Williamson (willima@ci.akron.oh.us) |
Phone: 330-375-2538
Fax: 330-375-2335 |
AKRON TO BENEFIT FROM
LOCKHEED DEAL
LOCKHEED WINS $149M DEAL FOR UNMANNED AIRSHIP |
| Lockheed Martin Corp. on Thursday won a $149
million contract to build a prototype unmanned airship about 17 times the size of a
Goodyear blimp that will hover about 60,000 feet above the earth. The Pentagon's Missile
Defense Agency said the High-Altitude Airship would be untethered, able to remain in place
for one month over a designated place, and able to carry up to 500 pounds of sensors that
could detect enemy ballistic missiles. Missile Defense Agency spokesman Rick Lehner
said the program was aimed at exploring the possibility of using the airship to track and
detect ballistic missile launches. Lockheed spokeswoman Kate Dunlap said the new airship
had been in development for about two years, and the company had over 80 years' experience
building lighter-than-air vehicles. Under the new contract, which runs through November
2010, Lockheed would build and fly the new prototype, to "prove its military
utility," she said. The airship, to be powered by solar and electrical energy, would
operate in "near space," the no man's land above where airplanes fly, but below
an outer space orbit, she said.
Work would be done in Akron, OH, where Lockheed has a large air dock that could
accommodate up to two of the new airships, she said. The U.S. military has been
actively exploring possible military uses of near space vehicles like airships and
glider-like aircraft, partly because they are far less expensive to launch and operate
than satellites. Lehner said the new airship to be built by Lockheed could complement the
use of missile detection satellites at a lower cost. (Reuters - 12/8)
### |
|
|
