Submarines of the Sky- China’s New Airship Program

Siddhant Sandhu
May 8, 2023
1046

A big Chinese military airship has been observed for the first time at a distant location in the desert of northern China. Many Experts consider it a significant improvement in China’s airship program, indicating a more adaptable and maneuverable vessel than had previously been seen or known.

The photographs, captured by the US satellite show a 100-foot-long blimp in the midst of a nearly kilometer-long runway at a desert military installation in northwestern China. various aerospace professionals confirm that they depict a blimp and runway, as well as a gigantic, nearly 900-foot airship hangar.

Submarines of the Sky Chinas New Airship Program

The Chinese ‘Near Space’ Programme

China now has one of the world’s most active space programs. Every year, it conducts either the most or the second most orbital launches. It runs a satellite fleet that includes many communication, navigation, remote sensing, and scientific research satellites. China has performed numerous complicated extraterrestrial exploration missions, involving landings and sample returns, with spacecraft reaching as far as the Moon and Mars. Recently China was in the news as the USA shot down one of its Spy Balloons which was hovering around. Many say that this blimp whose picture was taken is a further improved and more technologically advanced instrument.

Although China is not the only country that uses airships, this discovery confirms that the PLA program employs all three types of airships: blimps, aerostats, and free-floating balloons. The Chinese are interested in these types of airships because they are less expensive and provide more-precise intelligence than satellites, as well as being “less susceptible to destruction” than planes. Additional satellite imagery and site analysis indicate that the PLA has much loftier goals for its site and its airship program.

The 900-Foot Hangar

Accordingly, when the PLA first erected the vast 900-foot hangar in 2013, there was little to no activity surrounding it for years. When winter storms dumped snow on the desert base, other areas of the complex and roadways were plowed, but the snow around the runway and hangar remained mostly undisturbed.

Excavation and construction work at the facility, which began in the summer of 2022, has resumed. It’s still unclear what the PLA is building to the south and east of the massive hangar, but satellite photography indicates that it includes foundation work as well as the development of an underground basement. This blimp hangar is designed for much larger aircraft, implying that the blimp is a test vehicle or submission. A gigantic cradle-like contraption was discovered on the almost kilometer-long runway in 2020.

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