LES NOUVEAUX DIRIGEABLES!
USA
Français
Regain d'intérêt de l'Armée pour les ballons dirigeables
    Lockheed Martin Corp. vient de remporter un contrat de 40 millions de dollars auprès du Pentagone pour développer d'ici 2006 un prototype de dirigeable destiné à la surveillance aérienne des frontières et notamment à la lutte anti-missiles.
    L'engin, de 150 m de long pour 49 m de diamètre, volera à plus de 17000 m d'altitude et sera alimenté par des panneaux solaires.
    Il devrait être développé à Akron (Ohio), grand centre de production des dirigeables de surveillance lors de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale.
    Avec ce nouveau ballon, l'Armée entend compléter son dispositif de contrôle actuel composé de radars et de satellites.
    En effet, le système permet l'observation de régions difficilement accessibles pour les radars et ne rencontre pas de problème lié à la rotation de la Terre comme c'est le cas des satellites.
    De plus, il pourra rester en l'air plusieurs mois, ne descendant au sol que pour la maintenance. Le contrat signé prévoit également une option pour la construction d'un premier vrai appareil pour 50 millions de dollars, avant plusieurs autres éventuels si tous les tests sont concluants.
SJMN 01/10/03 (Pentagone plans huge 'homeland defense' dirigible)
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/6905642.htm
Anglais
Pentagon plans huge 'homeland defense' dirigible
CLEVELAND (AP) - The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $40 million contract to develop a high-flying, remote-controlled blimp that would monitor U.S. borders and scan the horizon for enemy missiles.
    The idea is to supplement radar and satellites. The helium-filled dirigibles -- about 25 times larger than those seen at sporting events -- could also be used to monitor combat zones overseas.
    They would patrol at 65,000 feet, or more than 11 miles up, and be powered by the sun.
    ``It's another mix in the multilayered defense sensors,'' Christopher Taylor, a spokesman for the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, said Tuesday. The goal is to have a prototype ready to fly in 2006. The contract includes a $50 million option to build one.
    The agency will direct the design and construction of the prototype in Akron, Ohio, by Lockheed on behalf of the Department of Defense, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the Army.
    Blimps can peer down into valleys missed by surface radar and, unlike satellites, their surveillance isn't limited by the earth's rotation. They can be aloft for months at a time and, unlike satellites, can land for equipment changes or maintenance.
    Depending on tests, the Pentagon will order an undetermined number of the blimps, Taylor said. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes border patrols, also will consider ordering blimps, he said.
    Last year, NORAD proposed stationing 10 ships to cover America's borders. The Coast Guard and customs agents already use radar on low-altitude tethered balloons to scan for drug smugglers. The Navy discontinued its blimp program in 1962.
    Akron's Lockheed Martin Airdock, where the blimp is to be developed about 30 miles south of Cleveland, was once the site of mass production of Navy surveillance airships during World War II.
    The prototype will be about 500 feet long, 160 feet in diameter and have a volume of 5.2 million cubic feet. A typical commercial blimp is about 200 feet long and 70 feet in diameter.