This Walrus is a new type of aircraft, half jumbo jet, half blimp, designed according to specifications from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This Walrus is intended to carry a payload of 500 to 1,000 tons up to 12,000 nautical miles, in less than than a week and at a competitive cost, according to Defense Industry Daily and Red Herring. Two contractors, Aeros and Lockheed Martin have recently received about $3 million each by DARPA to produce some designs for the Walrus zeppelin by mid-2006. While it seems possible to build such giants, which could measure up to 400 meters in length, perform vertical takeoffs and landings on both ground and sea, they should be seriously vulnerable in war zones. Read more on ZDNet's Emerging Technology Trends.
Sources: Defense Industry Daily, August 30, 2005; Red Herring, September 3, 2005; and various web sites
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