The Economist has a feature that compares blimps to other remote sensing platforms as a very favorable option, particularly in these trying economic times.
“Blimps can keep surveillance and ordnance-guiding equipment aloft for a few hundred dollars an hour. They cost hundreds of thousands, not millions, of dollars. And they can stay aloft for more than a week, whereas most drones fly for no more than 30 hours at a time. They are also easy to deploy. No airfield is needed. A blimp can be stored in the back of a jeep, driven to a suitable location, launched in a couple hours and winched down even faster.”
While the feature focuses primarily on warfare applications, there are certainly environmental and urban applications that should be explored.
