The Lockheed Martin P-791 is an experimental

aerostatic A subfield of fluid statics, aerostatics is the study of gases that are not in motion with respect to the coordinate system in which they are considered. The corresponding study of gases in motion is called aerodynamics. Aerostatics studies densi ...

and aerodynamic

hybrid airship A hybrid airship is a powered aircraft that obtains some of its lift as a lighter-than-air (LTA) airship and some from lift (force), aerodynamic lift as a Aircraft#Heavier-than-air – aerodynes, heavier-than-air aerodyne. A ''dynastat'' is a hy ...

developed by

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

. The first flight of the P-791 took place on 31 January 2006 at the company's flight test facility at United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, CA.

Description

The P-791 has a tri-hull shape, with disk-shaped cushions on the bottom for landing. As a hybrid airship, part of the weight of the craft and its payload are supported by aerostatic (buoyant) lift and the remainder is supported by

aerodynamic lift When a fluid flows around an object, the fluid exerts a force on the object. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the force paral ...

. The combination of aerodynamic and aerostatic lift is an attempt to benefit from both the high speed of aerodynamic craft and the lifting capacity of aerostatic craft.

History

The P-791 was designed as part of the U.S. Army's Long Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) program, but lost the program's competition to

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

's HAV-3 design. The P-791 was modified to be a civil cargo aircraft under the name SkyTug, with a lift capability of and plans to scale larger. In March 2016, Straightline Aviation signed a

Letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term she ...

for 12 LMH1 airships, valued at $480 million.

LMH-1

In 2014, Hybrid Enterprises from Atlanta, Georgia entered into an agreement with Lockheed Martin to market and sell the commercial LMH-1 Hybrid Aircraft built by Lockheed, based on the technology demonstrated by the P-791. At the Paris Air Show in June 2015, Lockheed Martin announced that all required FAA certification planning steps were complete, and Hybrid Enterprises was accepting orders. The LMH1 would initially transport 20 tonnes of cargo or 19 passengers, plus 2 crew members, with deliveries beginning in 2018. In September 2016, plans were announced to operate the LMH-1 craft in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. In September 2017 it was announced that the first flight of the LMH-1 was being delayed to 2019. In May 2023, Lockheed Martin announced the transfer of intellectual property and assets related to their airship business, and the LMH-1, to a new company, called AT² Aerospace, which would continue the development of the LMH-1 as the Z1 hybrid airship.

LMZ1M

The Lockheed Martin LMZ1M is the follow on to the P-791 test vehicle.

References

External links