What do you think this is? I'll give you a second if you promise not to read ahead.
Okay, give up?
If you guessed a blimp, you're sort of right. It's what they call a dirigible or an airship. The big difference between this and the Goodyear blimp is, one gets "blown up" and the other is "rigid." meaning it's a built structure.
Remember the Hindenburg?
Unlike today's airships which use helium, vehicles such as the Hindenburg had the very flammable substance of Hydrogen to keep them afloat
Well, long story short, it turns out they're making them again, FOR THE MILITARY! No, you haven't gone back in time to World War I. This is legit.
The Northrop Grumman aerospace and defense technology company just won a contract from the U.S. government to provide three LEMV surveillance ships to The Army to assist troops in Afghanistan. The vehicles, which can carry up to 2,500 pounds and hover 20,000 feet above sea-level will go into service sometime in 2011.
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