Luftkrieg im 21. Jahrhundert

[Schneemann]

Ich stelle diese Meldung mal unter Vorbehalt hier ein. Es gibt ja bekanntlich weltweit Ideen zu Luftschiffen, man denke auch an das Persistant Surveillance System von Rheinmetall oder israelische Blimps, aber die Größe und Flughöhe dieses chinesischen Systems ist doch recht beeindruckend, wenn denn die Meldung so stimmt.

Was A High-Altitude Airship Spotted Recently Near The South China Sea?

China, among others, has been exploring the capabilities offered by high-flying, far-traveling airships that can perform various missions.

Pictures that show what could be a high-altitude, long-endurance airship flying in the vicinity of the northern Philippine island of Luzon near the South China Sea have recently emerged. The Chinese military, among others, is known to be exploring high-flying lighter-than-air platforms capable of performing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions and other tasks across long distances and for long durations, which would be well suited to operations in this region, as The War Zone has previously reported on in detail. [...] The pictures are said to have been taken by an individual in the province of Pangasinan on Luzon, the western part of which juts out into the northern end of the South China Sea, but there does not appear to be any readily available information about when they were supposedly taken. [...]

Given how far away it appears to be from the person taking the photographs, it is difficult to gauge its size or how high it might be flying. It is also not clear whether or not it might have any kind of propulsion system or other equipment fitted. [...]

Overall, the apparent airship's general shape has broad similarities to a number of high-altitude, long-endurance types that Chinese companies are known to have been working on. This includes at least two uncrewed solar-powered designs, the Tian Heng and Yuan Meng, with external propulsion and other systems intended primarily for operations at stratospheric altitudes, both of which have reportedly been test flown at least once. [...]

Stratospheric airships, in particular, may have the benefit of being able to fly at altitudes above where typical fighter aircraft can go, making intercepting and examining them closely a challenge. Operating at those heights, the chances of observers on the ground spotting these aerial craft may also be difficult to track on traditional radars due to their shape, construction, and slow speed. This, in turn, might make it possible to pass over certain areas and collect information unopposed.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/wa...-china-sea

Dazu auch noch ein (mutmaßliches) Bild dieses Luftschiffes: https://www.reddit.com/r/Airships/commen...ppines_on/

Schneemann