Dominant Logistics
LTA - Heavy Lift in the 21st Century
One of the greatest challenges is how to efficiently meet the need for moving massive quantities of bulk cargo to locations throughout the world. It is one thing to move a military force - it is quite another to keep that force supplied with a steady stream of materials to keep it operational. Today, most of this need is met by C-5A aircraft and large cargo ships. But these are only available in limited quantities, are very expensive to operate and maintain, and have severe limitations on where they can operate. Lighter Than Air ships (LTAs) offer a number of advantages over current heavy lift assets. Using modern technologies, we can dramatically improve our ability to support operations abroad while simultaneously lowering our operating costs.
The basic LTA is a glorified blimp using large quantities of helium to lift substantial weight. With current technologies, it has been estimated that we can build LTAs capable of lifting 200 tons. But where we can radically alter the LTA design to maximize its capabilities is in the area of propulsion. On land, we are already making progress in using hybrid powertrains to maximize the efficiency of our propulsion systems. In an LTA, we can take this concept another step.
An LTA is a very large airship with substantial surface area. Current propulsion systems are typically standard combustion systems that are powered exclusively by fuels. If we switch the current propulsion systems to a hybrid design with a battery system, we can increase our fuel efficiency with a modest weight penalty. But this also gives us a new option that could revolutionize air transport.
Available today are roofing shingles that incorporate solar cells to generate electricity from sunlight. Given the massive surface area of an LTA, we could cover much of the body with solar shingles and propel the airship without using fuel. While this would considerably limit its speed, its range and endurance would be virtually unlimited while it should still be more than capable of speeds far greater than current sealift ships.
Consider this concept for a minute - the LTA could lift a 200 ton load in CONUS and deliver it to virtually anywhere on the planet using an extremely small quantity of fuel. And it is entirely possible that this ship could operate at speeds of as high as 100 mph on battery power. Moreover, an LTA requires no runway for operations. It does need an open area in which to land, but for all practical purposes it is a VTOL aircraft. A fleet of 100 LTAs operating in this fashion could provide a constant stream of 2000 tons of materials to any location in the world, everyday (assuming a 10-day round trip at 10 flights per day) while using a very minimal amount of fuel.
Another needed role would be as a refueling system for helicopters for long-range deployments. Using the Helicopter Self Deployment System, our choppers will be self-deploying to future conflicts. While they will have significantly greater range than typical helicopter arrangements, they will not have sufficient range to reach most theaters without refueling. An LTA could carry about 50,000 gallons of fuel for refueling operations and use a boom that would extend from the upper portion of the LTA with a drogue attachment for refueling. Most importantly, the LTA can loiter in a defined location for an unlimited period of time without burning up all the fuel it is holding. With this feature, deployment of HSDS-equipped helicopters would simply involve stationing a quantity of loaded LTAs a predetermined locations and have the helicopters go through these locations.
LTAs are susceptible to a variety of attacks - the aircraft are not without their flaws by any means. But for some roles, they would give us substantially more capability than what we currently have. For example, LTAs would be ideal for constant patrols over relatively safe areas as well as for anti-submarine warfare. But their greatest strength would be in strategic logistics. Work should begin immediately to develop a fleet of 200 LTAs to take over the current role of the C-5A. We need to retain the C-5 until a sufficient quantity of C-17s is built (200) to take over as the primary heavylift air asset.