Posted by John McHaleAKRON, Ohio, 28 July 2011. U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin officials launched their unmanned airship -- the High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator -- for the first time. The aircraft reached an altitude of about 32,000 feet, however, a technical problem prevented the airship from attaining its target altitude of 60,000 feet forcing the HALE-D team to terminate the flight.The aircraft descended without incident to a predetermined landing zone in southwestern Pennsylvania. Lockheed Martin officials are coordinating with state and local authorities to recover the airship. Company officials say that "no injuries or damage were experienced during this landing in a heavily wooded area.""While we didn't reach the target altitude, first flights of new technologies like HALE-D also afford us the ability to learn and test with a mind toward future developments," says Dan Schultz, vice president ship and aviation systems for Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems & Sensors business. The unmanned airship was being used to demonstrate technologies on its flight such as communications links, launch and control of the airship, solar array electricity generation and remote piloting communications and control capability.The solar-powered HALE-D is designed to hover 12 miles above the earth's surface for extended periods of time. Lockheed Martin is in the process of recovering the airship and will conduct a full evaluation. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (SMDC/ARSTRAT) is the program office that contracted with Lockheed Martin to develop the High Altitude Airship program. The airship will be a stationery long-term overhead platform for a telecommunications relay system.
