Project ISIS
It's actually a few different projects rolled into one:
HAA
The Missile Defense Agency(MDA) is funding an ACTD to investigate the feasibility of a high altitude airship (HAA) for homeland defense. Like JLENS, HAA would be unmanned, and provideover-the-horizon surveillance. However,it would not provide fire control-quality tracks, and unlike an aerostat, HAA could moveto avoid weather or change radar coverage. The HAA would operate at high altitudes andhas been likened to a low flying, and relatively inexpensive satellite. This altitude might enable a small number of airships to surveill the entire United States. The ACTD seeks to demonstrate a prototype by 2006 that could fly for 30 days at a time.
Integrated Sensoris Structure(ISIS)
The goal of this Defense Advanced ResearchProjects Agency’s (DARPA) program is to develop a stratospheric airship-based sensor that can remain airborne for years. It is hoped to detect both air and ground targets at longrange. The ISIS program will develop technologies to enable large and lightweight radarantennas to be integrated into an airship platform. This approach exploits the platform’ssize and complies with the platform’s weight and power limitations. Major technical challenges include developing ultra-lightweight antennas, antenna calibrationtechnologies, power systems, and airships that support extremely large antennas
Walrus
DARPA is exploring the feasibility of airships for long-range airlift. The“Walrus” program seeks to develop a hybrid airship capable of transporting up to 1,000 tons across international distances. Unlike traditional, cigar-shaped airships, a hybrid airship is shaped more like an aircraft’s wing, to generate lift through aerodynamic forces. Advocates hope that airships may potentially be capable of carryinga complete Army brigade directly from “the fort to the fight,” overcoming logistic chokepoints and mitigating the effects of limited forward basing. Airships and hybrids may be able to land on water, which could prove valuable to the Navy’s sea basing concept.
Mobilus
The Army is studying ways to develop a commercial airships, that could be used by the military in time of need (similar to the Civil Reserve Air Fleet). Mobilus seeks to use a balanced, cost sharing public/private partnership. The idea is to create abroad and deep mobility capability in the private sector that would be available for military use. Mobilus will determine the requirements to sufficiently bolster the lighter-than-air industry to make such airlifters viable.
Lockheed Martin To Develop High Altitude Airship for Missile Defense.
25 times larger than airships such as the Goodyear blimp!
Then, there is Dark Sky Station
Scroll down a ways through the article for the pic.
...Dark Sky Station at an altitude of 100,000 to 140,000 feet (30 to 42 kilometers). "It supplies literally a space station, but not in space. It's parked at the edge of space, as a permanent manned facility," he explained.
Okay, IMO there are alot of good AtB possibilities here, in conjunction with some tweaking of the airship designs in Mutants Down Under and maybe a little refining of Mutants in Orbit to make way for the Dark Sky Station...
Though, I have some questions. Let's say Dark Sky Station survives the initial fury of the Death...the killer satellites, anti-space station/satellite missiles, etc. Would the thing need anything to keep it afloat...let's say that they have the technology to produce the necessities to live (air, water, and food), but what about helium and whatever other "fuel" they need to keep that thing afloat. How long could that thing feasibly remain at it's altitude without needing to be "refueled"?
We could even disregard the crew...they're all dead, but the Dark Sky Station remains in orbit (or whatever you call it) until the EoH or the players catch wind of it and have to hatch some wild plan to get aboard it and salvage whatever secrets/technologies it holds.
And I would think the EoH would be all over the Walrus...the EoH has air superiority in North America...they could use this thing as a forward operating base against just about everyone (except probably Cardania). It would be perfect against the encroaching threat the likes of the Prairie Dog Imperium. Or even as an exploration platform into such lands as the Yucatan, South America, etc.
It's been years since I did anything with the airship rules but I'd like to see what someone comes up with for a conversion here for that HAA Lockheed is exploring.
