Would airships make a good AEW platform for navies?
The US Navy were interested in the 90s, what happened?
Conventional aircraft like the E-2 Hawkeye are said to be superior to helicopters such as Ka-31s, Sea Kings and Merlins in the AEW role, but require large and expensive carriers with catapults and arrestor gear.
Airships would not need to land, they could just hover over a ship and refuel and change crews. Their endurance and height performance could be better than a Hawkeye, radar could be bigger and better and a larger crew would be a benefit too.
What do you think?
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August 27, 2004 at 2:44 pm