Hybrid Air Vehicles reports first undisclosed military client

The first military operator has now been signed up to use the Airlander 10 hybrid airship. (Hybrid Air Vehicles)

Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) has secured its first military client for the Airlander 10 hybrid airship.

The UK company announced the development on 23 October, saying that three airships had been reserved for use by an undisclosed military.

“HAV, the designer of Airlander, a fuel-efficient hybrid aircraft with dual-use applications, has today announced the reservation of a further three aircraft, representing the first Airlander 10 aircraft destined for defence use,” it said.

News of the reservation came two years after HAV, in September 2023, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BAE Systems to explore military applications of the Airlander 10. HAV did not say if this latest development was a result of this MOU.

The Airlander 10 is based on the HAV 304 that was used by the US Army for its aborted Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) programme, before the programme was cancelled in 2013.

As noted by HAV, the Airlander 10 has the potential to stay airborne for up to five days while fitted with many tonnes of computing, communications, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Its ability to operate from any reasonably flat surface, including water, with minimal infrastructure, offers mobility, deployability, and flexibility in support of maritime, coastal, and land-based expeditionary warfare in areas where current platforms are challenged, the company said.

For defence logistics, the Airlander 10's ability to carry up to a 10 tonne logistics payload provides longer-range, lower-cost, and higher-capacity air transport than today's military transport helicopters. Future Airlander 50 and Airlander 200 platforms will offer low-cost, sustainable, tactical, and strategic airlift capability.