Gonna be hard to hit a AWACs airship (specially the remote ones) when they're well over 60,000-80,000ft up in the air.

"I believe such a airship could be useful in areas with extremely limited air threats" But for the near future as least that is what the US is going to be facing. A Hybrid airship would seem perfect for getting equipment from the CONUS to theater staging bases around the world. A airship would also be less tied to airbases then aircraft so you would have less of a logjam at both end of the logistical pipeline. So even with the faster airspeed, would the aircraft get the stuff there any faster, after loading and off loading is considered?

Weather can be avoided, gone around, or over. With current tech each Airship can carry its own weather radar and avoid bad weather. Or if you really want to be cheap satellite up link to weather satellites. On-loading and off loading depends on the design, I would have it designed to drive in the back and out the front. Just as quick if not quicker then planes or ships. Air defense well yes it could get mauled by any jet, but how many places would be able to get a jet airborne that they would be actually fighting? Anti-air defenses yup if it can be targeted. It would take a great deal of weapons to actually bring down an airship hard, a few bullet holes will not bring down an airship. It would take days for the helium to escape if left unrepaired. In airships the helium is in many many bags, not one large one. My concern would be how big would be just how big it would have to be? How many cargo planes does it take to move around a brigade?

They are not going to be that high. Airships are severely limited by altitude. Most to about 10-15 thousand feet and the record is about 26,000 feet and that with limited payload and fuel.

A large airship would be even more tied to bases than aircraft. Airships require very large ground crews and unlike many tactical aircraft or helicopters they can not take off and land just anywhere. They would need specialized gear on site for loading and unloading.

A one kilogram fragmentation/incendiary warhead [RPG size?]that penetrated the envelope before exploding would penetrate so many air bags and the envelope that it would bring down even a large airship. What happens when you drive a 70 ton tank off the airship and it instantly developes 70 tons of vertical lift? Special equipment is need to laod and unload airships. They must also be house in special oversized hangars when not in use or when undergoing repair. Don't need a jet. There has not been an airship built that could not be mauled by a Beech Bonanza or a cropduster. During the Battle of the Bulge our troops waited for the fog and clouds to lift so they could get air support and resupply. With airships they would be able to add to that waiting for the wind to calm. A sinle jet transport would require fewer gound and aircrew, no special facilities, and they could complete five missions in the time it took an airships to complete one. Tell the gunts that their reserve ammo will be here in only 5-10 more days, depending on when the wind dies down or changes direction.

take a look at this link: http://www.atg-airships.com/ it answers most of your comments The problem is that its still on the drawing board, also take a look at the DARPA WALRUS project

"What happens when you drive a 70 ton tank off the airship and it instantly developes 70 tons of vertical lift? Special equipment is need to laod and unload airships. They must also be house in special oversized hangars when not in use or when undergoing repair." The SkyCat project would have air cushion system of the bottem that could be put in reverse to seal the airship to the ground, it could even land on water, the link in the previous message has a artist picture. The SkyCat I don't think is a Hybrid Airship but I full airship(getting all of it lift from it's gas) A hybrid airship would be an aerodynamic shape uses lifting gas to neutralize most but not all of the payload. Add a small amount of thrust and your airborne. So the 70ton tank example may apply to a full airship, the air-cushion system on the SkyCat may be able to keep it secured to the ground, I’m not sure. But it wouldn’t apply to a hybrid airship. Of course since nobody has built a full scale version yet nobody real knows for sure Here another link http://www.ohio-airships.com/OA/Ma

http://popularmechanics.com/ http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_Walrus,,00.html?ESRC=soldiertech.nl An article on Walrus and a new idea from PM