A.N. Kirilin

AEROSTATICA Aeronautical Enterprise

121614 Moscow, Krylatskaya ul., 31-1-315, RUSSIA

Tel. 7 095-158-4818, Tel/Fax 7 095-415-46-30

The main trends of modern LTA vehicles development are summed up on the basis of materials and proceedings of the 3^rd International Airship Convention and Exhibition (July 2000, Friedrichshafen, Germany). A conclusion is made that a fundamental break-through is to be expected in “the aeronautical front” in the nearest future. We note, that unlike the 80s-90s, when aeronautical firms were engaged in implementing a single project (or max. two), in the end of the 20^th century a vast majority of companies and holdings have been carrying out their R&D along three directions simultaneously:

- multifunctional medium – and large-sized airships (up to 7 t payload or 50 passengers);

- transport airships with large and super-large payloads (15-1000 t);

- stratospheric remotely controlled airships designed for communication, monitoring and special purposes.

A concise analysis of transport airships projects CargoLifter (“CargoLifter”, Germany), Navigator (“Rigid Airship Design BV”, Holland), SkyCat (“Advanced Technologies Group”, England), BR-10000 (“Aerostatica”, Russia) along with a survey of high altitude geostationary aerostatic platforms are given. We note in particular intensive R&D, carried out in the USA, Japan and some European countries on stratospheric airships, capable to hover at the altitude 17-22 km above a given area of the Earth for a very long time (years). Stratospheric airships are a promising infrastructure for communication, weather forecast, Earth observation and monitoring in the 21^st century. Their cost can be much less than that of present-day communication satellites.