Airship Powered from Space

http://foxhugh.com/2014/11/18/airship-powered-from-space/

DARPA wants airborne aircraft carriers. The airborne aircraft carriers would be a platform for
drones. Radley has suggested airships be used to act as a catchment for solar energy beamed
from solar satellites in space. The power would then be transferred from the airship to the Earth.
How about beaming power to the airship which is used by the airship! The airship can use some
of this collected power to stay aloft, for propulsion and to power up sensors as well as command
and control equipment. DARPA has already done the conceptual work of making an airship a
giant sensor.
The power collected could be used not only to power the airship but to recharge the drones the
airship services. Microdrones acting in swarms would need to be battery powered anyway and
would give the US military another type of drone capability to supplement our current larger
drones. Since power is available to stay aloft then the airship can be much smaller than a normal

Airship Powered from Space

http://foxhugh.com/2014/11/18/airship-powered-from-space/
airship that requires more helium to stay afloat. A smaller airship provides a smaller target and
is therefore less vulnerable to enemy missiles. The microdrones could also be used to acts as
missile defense system. The drone(s) intercepts the missile and explodes in the proximity of the
missile. The microdrones used as a defensive system ironically mimic the behavior of actual bee
drones!
The airships sensor system can be used for two types of targeting. The sensor can be used to
aim microdrones at targets on the ground that are of interest for further observation.
Microdrones with explosives can be use for exact target elimination. The US already has
redundant airpower that is powerful but has the political problem of collateral damage. Current
US power is excellent for military purposes but not as capable for police actions. What the US
lacks is some sort of automated system that can bring more or less the target elimination
capabilities of an infantry soldier from the sky and this is what cheap disposable microdrones can
provide. Infantry of course has the disadvantages of the loss of life among US soldiers and
dealing with the complex political machinations of putting boots on the ground. The airships
sensor system can also be used in conjunction microdrones to provide target information that the
solar satellite can use to target its solar beam. However, a death ray from above is not really
what the US needs. The US has a plethora of very powerful weapons that can deliver death from
above but lack the accuracy needed for police type missions abroad.
The US already has cruise missiles, huge bombers, bunker busters and even nuclear weapons.
What the US does not have is the ability to take out a single tank or even a single soldier
surrounded by civilians. Since one of the new threats is terrorists that use civilian populations as
human shields, an exact targeting system and target delivery system from above allows attacks
on terrorists in situations in which infantry was the only option in the past. Perhaps drones
working alone or in conjunction can provide optics that focus the solar beam from space to
ground targets.
Perhaps a specialized drone that is torus shaped and has some sort of lens or energy field in the
center that can take the solar beam from a satellite and aim incredible power at a very small
target? Maybe such a drone can provide laser capability that can kill a single terrorist who thinks
he is safe under tons of rock in a cave but is suddenly killed in front of his men! Bombing caves
may create camaraderie but seeing your fearless leader killed in front of you in your sanctuary
may be more effective when dealing with tribal groups that cluster around charismatic leaders!
The laser drone and microdrones with explosives could even be used in together. The laser
drone creates the opening and the microdrones with explosives then go through the opening.
This means the drones with explosives can go into areas underground or in bunkers that would
be very difficult for an infantry solider to breach. In the short run, drones for observation would
be the first area of research development. Drones with explosive, probably larger, would be the
next area of research development. Drones with solar energy focusing capability that would
probably be quite large would be the final type of drone developed.

Airship Powered from Space

http://foxhugh.com/2014/11/18/airship-powered-from-space/
The US does not need a death ray from space but precise target elimination from above is
preferable to invasion in most scenarios. A focused laser for underground targets and an
exploding microdrone for targets above ground may be the missing element in the US spectrum
of military options!