Congress: Time for a Defense Department Airship Czar

The Defense Department has so many airship programs Congress directed the Pentagon to designate a senior airship official in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act signed by President Obama last Thursday.

This official will have responsibility for programs that include the Army's football-field sized Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle and the equally large, blimp-like Air Force Blue Devil, both designed to carry sensors over battlefields.

Other military airship programs include plans by the Army to develop a massive cargo airship and a blimp to test sensors. Plus, the Army and Air Force have deployed tethered aerostats to carry radars.

I suggest that "The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed," by John McPhee -- the best airship book ever -- be required reading for the Pentagon airship czar.