The Blimp That Could Change How The World Travels Is Ready To Fly [PHOTOS]

Aeroscraft

When we first wrote about the Aeroscraft ML866 in October it was still being built, but the airship has finished testing and is preparing for its first flight.

Check out the Aeroscraft >

Built by Worldwide Aeros Corp. in California, the lighter than air vehicle uses technology developed by DARPA in 2005. That feasibility project was called Walrus HULA and spurred awards to both Lockheed martin and Aeros for initial development.

The Aeroscraft can land without a runway, making it easier to deliver massive tonnage to remote locations using very few ground crew. That's great news for military planners and also for troops as the blimp could remove forces from roadways, relieve pressure on energy consumption, and put logistics in the sky, away from the enemy. Aeros also has a bullet resistant skin that has been proven effective against live rifle fire.

The company is producing multiple models, including one called the Pelican for military use that should be fielded in early 2013.

The largest so far measures nearly 800-feet long and will carry 500 tons. The company claims the next-generation blimps called Rigid Variable Buoyancy Air Vehicles are one of a kind. The technology is explained here (with diagrams).

Hopefully the craft's first flight will end better than it did for Lockheed's HALE-D model in 2011 that went down in an Ohio field hours after takeoff.

The company is betting on its success: Aeros CEO Igor Pasternak says, “This is truly the beginning of a vertical global transportation solution for perhaps the next 100 years.”

Pictures from the company's Facebook page are below and the slides here offer further details on how the company imagines changing the face of transportation.

Aeroscraft