LowObservable wrote:
If airships or hybrids had failed after receiving one-tenth of one percent of the R&D investment lavished on tilt-rotors or STOVL one might be justified in writing them off. As it is, the technology has suffered from all the ills that could afflict it: bounced around from one service sponsor to another, drip-fed money in tiny increments one minute and expected to yield 500 ton payload monsters the next.
Nevertheless, these totally useless windbags are simply a complete and utter waste of time, money and effort. If the snake-oil salesmen, who are trying to sell these ridiculous pieces of junk to the military, had any real belief in their project, they'd already have identified a niche market. But it's clear that they're trying to find a solution to a problem which, frankly, doesn't actually exist.
And Bruce, stick to Heavy Metal.....