Replies to post #83892 on World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[siriuslyricher]

Why don't you check with the folks at Elisra, the U.S. Navy, or Raytheon who evidently believe that Sanswire's airships offer solutions and applications different from those provided by the "Reaper"?

There are many types of unmanned air vehicles just as there are many different types of airplanes, all manufactured and used for varied purposes.

[Skyvision]

I agree that our troops deserve the best capability. The reality is, however, that it costs money to run the military, and expensive appetites are actually depriving our troops of needed capability. Do you know how much a F-22 costs? Do you kow how much we're spending just in R&D on JSF? Do you know how much it costs to operate a Global Hawk for just one hour?

Yes, Sanswire has not achieved strat capability - but it's envisioned capability (primarily large sensor loads, persistence measured in days, and extreme dwell/stare ability) would compliment DoD capability needs in ways that fixed wing air breathers simply cannot. We wouldn't be getting our butts kicked by IEDs and car bombs if we had true 24/7 surveillance capability over Baghdad. Wouldn't it be nice to rewind the tape and trace back to the garages building them?

Why aren't we able to do that now? I believe it's because we don't fly our most capable UAVs as much as we would like - for 3 reasons: 1) Not enough assets, 2) Maintenance/Wear & tear, 3) Affordability

A Global Hawk costs ~$25k/hr to operate. Let's assume that we have the assets to maintain a 24/7 rotation over an area of particular interest for 30 days...that cost equates to ~$18 Million - just for a month.

I hear the "responsiveness" argument all the time...from companies desperately clinging to lucrative UAV contracts -- and they keep feeding the same speak to DoD.

You don't need responsiveness if you're already there.