Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), the British company betting on hybrid airships as environmentally-friendly airlift solutions, has announced that an undisclosed customer has reserved 3 AIRLANDER 10 airships for military use.

An “innovative defence contractor” plans to offer capability to its customers through this prospective flotilla of airships which can carry a very substantial cargo load, land on any suitably flat surface – including on water – and stay in the air for 5 days at a time.

The AIRLANDER 10 has a 10 tons payload and is expected to be able to fly for up to 4,000 miles at altitudes of up to 20,000 feet, with a 5 days endurance in flight. The AIRLANDER 10 is the product with which HAV hopes to break into a profitable position, beginning production. Eventually, the plan is to fully electrify the AIRLANDER 10’s propulsion (from 4 combustion engines to 2+2 and then eventually to full electric) and to scale up to a 50-ton payload AIRLANDER 50 configuration.

Military applications for the hybrid airship have repeatedly been considered. Most recently, a 2-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the US Naval Postgraduate School has seen the US military fund studies over the AIRLANDER 10’s (and perspective AIRLANDER 50) potential as a logistic connector for US Navy and USMC.

Back in 2023, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed also with BAE Systems, again to look at military applications for the airship. The mains areas of interest are of course heavy logistics movements in austere environments, long endurance remote sensing and surveillance, maritime patrol and ASW and potential use as elevated sensor in air defence / anti-missile architectures.

Work is still ongoing behind the scenes to achieve UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) certification for the AIRLANDER 10.

In 2024, the Company secured a 50-hectare site at Carcroft Common, Doncaster, which is planned to house facilities for the production, testing and certification operations. It is hoped that in the future the site will be able to produce up to 24 aircraft per year.

There are several civilian customers that are interested in AIRLANDER 10’s unique capabilities, both for cargo/logistics applications and for passenger transport (up to 100 seats). As of 2024, before the latest 3 military reservations, there were around 30 airships “reserved”, for a potential value of over 1,4 billion USD. However, getting the Company to a position in which series production can actually start remains an uncertain proposition. Earlier this month, the Times reported that HAV is trying to raise fresh funding from investors, without which its ambitious plans will not be able to progress.

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