Lockheed Martin has sold its Hybrid Airship program to a private company led by former program manager Dr. Bob Boyd.
Boyd has started AT2 Aerospace to continue the attempt to find a buyer for the 300-foot-long, 21-ton vehicle. Lockheed Martin described AT2 as a transition partner. AIN understands that the transaction was low-priced and that the former owner has taken a stake in the new company.
Here at Paris eight years ago, Lockheed Martin staged an optimistic presentation on what it then called the LMH1. But no customer surfaced, although a Chinese investor nearly came close to concluding a deal. The sale never happened because then-President Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on exports of aircraft to China in 2018 as part of a response to the alleged theft of intellectual property (IP).
Boyd told AIN that Lockheed Martin had transferred all the IP to his new company, including a subscale prototype that flew in 2006. He has secured the services of three former colleagues who worked on the airship’s design and engineering, which has reached an advanced stage. The program resided at Lockheed Martin’s famous Skunk Works in Palmdale, California.
Last week, British company Straightline Aviation said it had signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with AT2 for three airships, along with options for a further 12 to be delivered over the first three years of production. Straightline chief executive Mike Kendrick told AIN that the first flight could occur in 14 months, in time for first delivery in 2026. The company claims to be the most knowledgeable airship operator, having commissioned and operated 19 airships and 200 aerostats in more than 35 countries, It was Lockheed Martin’s preferred operator for the LMH1.
For more than 20 years, the developers of hybrid airships have marketed their unique STOL airframes for a variety of applications, including airlift into remote areas, long endurance surveillance, luxury tourism, and city-to-city passenger transport. The Lockheed Martin vehicle is aimed at the remote lift market. More recently, proponents have stressed the green credentials of airships.
Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) of the UK last year claimed a launch order from Spanish airline Air Nostrum. In reality, the deal amounted to another LOI, and the company has long sought a strategic investor to launch production.
French company Flying Whales is developing a large conventional airship for lifting heavy loads. It is conducting a series of workshops here, at Stand A228 in Hall 2A.