Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd., the United Kingdom company seeking to develop a commercial airship, may repurchase a model sold to the U.S. Army following termination of Pentagon plans to use the blimp for surveillance in Afghanistan.
Cancellation of the Long-Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle program has presented Cranfield, England-based Hybrid Air with a chance to buy back the only craft made and use it to parade the capabilities of the multihulled, nonrigid design.
“The LEMV is a good vehicle to show people the utility of an airship,” Hardy Giesler, Hybrid’s business development director, said Thursday in a telephone interview. “We can probably carry four or five tons.”
The U.S. halted the LEMV’s $517 million demonstration phase last year after the first flight in August, citing technical and performance issues and budget constraints. The Pentagon had planned to buy three vehicles to support troops in Afghanistan.
Both prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. and Hybrid Air, which built the airship, were sent letters last month inviting them to buy the craft at the acquisition cost.
Responses are under consideration, the Huntsville, Ala.-based U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command said in an emailed response to questions. Other disposal options for the LEMV also exist, it said.
The 300-foot LEMV, designed to stay aloft for more than 21 days, is a three-quarter scale version of the Airlander 50 that Hybrid Air wants to build for commercial use.
Giesler said the military model could be sent to remote parts of Canada to show the utility of such a system in austere environments, a focus for oil, gas and mining activities.