Meet LEMV: the first of a new generation of advanced military airship

If you thought all unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) were variations on the familiar fixed-wing autonomous aircraft then think again.

Working with $0.5 billion of US defence funding, a team of American and British engineers are developing a 300 ft long reconnaissance drone based on a class of vehicle that many regard as little more than an intriguing footnote in aviation history: the airship.

Dubbed LEMV (long endurance multi intelligence vehicle) the helium-filled drone will, when it takes to the skies sometime next summer, become the world’s longest endurance UAV. ‘[the] vehicle will stay airborne for 21 days, carry 2500 pounds of payload, and travel at speeds between 30 - 80 knots’ explained Alan Metzger, director for airship programmes at Northrop Grumman, which is heading up the project.

Bristling with reconnaissance systems, and autonomously operating at altitudes of around 22000 feet, the aircraft  - the first of three similar three similar vehicles - is expected to make its maiden flight next summer and will be deployed in Afghanistan by January 2012.