runandadd, as far as the military's love of winged drones, I can only speculate that a fast-moving winged vehicle is more exciting and appealing than a slower-moving blimp-like vehicle. The advantage of the Argus over these winged UAVs is longer time on station. Whether or not that translates into enough interest for actual contracts, we just have to wait and see what unfolds. I doubt we'll see any airship sales until testing is complete and the platform is certified. Since there's been no update on the Argus in months, we don't know the status of testing, only that the airship is supposed to be in Nevada. It could be in active testing, or hidden away in a hanger while we await further funding to move forward.
I don't know how Kroplin's airship design would impact sales. Both airships have been hindered by inadequate funding for testing, further development or marketing. That's been the biggest problem all along, in my opinion. I thought the bankers would bring many resources to support the lack of funds problem, but that hasn't materialized. They've made personal investments to keep things running, but that's about all. The La Jolla funding was believed by some to be bridge financing to keep the company afloat until contracts arrive to provide the needed revenue and funding for further development and testing of the platforms. Again, we wait and we hope. If those expected contracts don't materialize, any additional La Jolla funding will further dilute the existing shares, and if they have the ability to sell into the market, the share price will be adversely affected as well. We need contracts so we can kick these guys to the curb.