Unmanned Autonomous Airship Gets First Birds Eye View

A new generation airship that could benefit the emergency services by remotely monitoring disasters such as floods and forest fires and help support major sporting events has successfully completed its first remotely piloted test flight at the Lindstrand Technologies test facility at Birkenhead, North West England.

The airship, designed for remote deployment on long endurance missions or as a communications relay station, undertook the initial phase of remotely piloted testing at the Lindstrand Technologies test facility in Birkenhead as the first step towards making a fully unmanned autonomous system (UAS) for a major British contractor.

This groundbreaking step in the development of this airship ideally positions companies to take advantage of a growing range of new markets. Not only is it made of newer lighter material than any previous airship, but it is significantly smaller than the majority of its competitors yet delivers the same high level of performance.

Its small size means it is easily transportable and does not need an airfield or runway to operate from. It can use existing hangars and needs only three ground operators to fly it which all adds up to some big cost savings for future customers.

The next stages in the development of of this airship are type certification of the remotely piloted vehicle then transition to a fully autonomous vehicle utilising existing autonomous technologies available in the market place.