Pentagon Sells $300 Million Blimp for $300 Thousand
- 11 years ago
After investing nearly 300 million dollars into the development of a war-ready blimp, the Pentagon decided to scrap the project and sell the craft to the people who made it – for 300 thousand dollars.
After investing nearly 300 million dollars into the development of a war-ready blimp, the Pentagon decided to scrap the project and sell the craft to the people who made it – for 300 thousand dollars.
To be fair, the aircraft was in used condition. The army had tested it once, flying it over New Jersey’s Lakehurst Naval Air Station for about 90 minutes.
After that, it was decided the airship wasn’t worth pursuing and ultimately decided not to go forward with it.
In the planning stages the blimp was imagined as a hovering spy hub. It would be loaded with surveillance equipment, able to withstand a firefight, and capable of floating for 21 consecutive days.
Once it was built, that’s just not how things ended up working out.
Among the biggest problems was that it was 12 thousand pounds overweight, meaning it couldn’t stay in the air for much more that 4, maybe 5, days.
An army spokesperson defended the expenditure and the sale, saying that they learned a lot during the process.
Plus, as the project stopped short of its 500 million dollar final price, they actually saved money.
After investing nearly 300 million dollars into the development of a war-ready blimp, the Pentagon decided to scrap the project and sell the craft to the people who made it – for 300 thousand dollars.
To be fair, the aircraft was in used condition. The army had tested it once, flying it over New Jersey’s Lakehurst Naval Air Station for about 90 minutes.
After that, it was decided the airship wasn’t worth pursuing and ultimately decided not to go forward with it.
In the planning stages the blimp was imagined as a hovering spy hub. It would be loaded with surveillance equipment, able to withstand a firefight, and capable of floating for 21 consecutive days.
Once it was built, that’s just not how things ended up working out.
Among the biggest problems was that it was 12 thousand pounds overweight, meaning it couldn’t stay in the air for much more that 4, maybe 5, days.
An army spokesperson defended the expenditure and the sale, saying that they learned a lot during the process.
Plus, as the project stopped short of its 500 million dollar final price, they actually saved money.