First military aircraft reservation for Airlander

Three aircraft reserved for military application.
This represents the first three Airlander 10 aircraft to be reserved in the military market, from HAV’s $3.7bn military pipeline.
This builds on the $2bn of reservations already in place for Airlander 10 in the civil market.

Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd (HAV), the designer of Airlander, a fuel- efficient hybrid aircraft with dual-use applications, has today announced the reservation of a further three aircraft, representing the first Airlander 10 aircraft destined for defence use. The three aircraft have been reserved by an innovative defence contractor looking to deliver the unique capabilities of Airlander to its customers.
Airlander 10 has been designed and will initially be certified for civil use, but its versatile nature means it can be modified to meet customer needs, with its large, rapidly reconfigurable cabin perfectly suited to meeting the fast-paced and ever-changing needs of the military market. Whether equipped with multispectral sensor suites for ISR roles, using the space to transport personnel, materiel, and equipment to austere environments, or to hold, release, and recover drone swarms, Airlander offers new possibilities in defence.
Airlander’s robust survivability and low vulnerability, coupled with its ability to remain in the air unrefuelled for up to five days, and operate from any relatively flat surface including water, makes it a platform capable of roles not currently possible with today’s aircraft.
This news comes as the defence landscape is changing across the globe.

New threats require new solutions, and Airlander will directly respond to current and emerging threats.

Elevated sensing: Missile defences need to be bolstered to counter increased threat – Airlander lifts a sensing payload of over three tonnes enabling high powered radars to remain aloft for days on end, as opposed to hours at present.

Drone and counter-drone warfare: Extensive, sophisticated, and persistent airborne surveillance is needed, together with the ability to host, deploy, and recover swarms or sensor networks – Airlander can remain on station for up to five days providing a common operating picture.

Maritime patrol and surveillance: Countering submarine activity and surface threats places great demands on today’s limited air and maritime assets – Airlander can cost- effectively survey large areas, distributing and monitoring anti-submarine warfare sensors and can form a key node in the collection and distribution of threat information.

George Land, Executive Director Sales at Hybrid Air Vehicles, said: “Its versatility, high payload, and endurance have always given Airlander 10 obvious advantages over other aircraft in C4ISR. As warfare evolves to meet current threats this capability is ever more valuable, and we have worked hard to showcase the aircraft’s capabilities. We are pleased to be working with an undisclosed customer to provide three aircraft for further customisation. We expect other military reservations to follow and look forward to providing more detail in the future.”
Airlander 10 will begin testing in 2027 and enter service following Type Certification. Airlander 10 is a versatile aircraft with a modular payload design that is capable of transporting over 100 passengers, a ten-ton payload of freight, or alternatively providing a highly instrumented cabin for persistent surveillance, reconnaissance and communications for national security, commercial, or disaster response. Airlander’s ability to fly at different altitudes for up to five days and modular payload design make it a versatile, multi-use platform ideal for government and commercial users.

The Airlander design scales easily into larger variants that could carry up to 200 tonnes over long distances. Airlander, particularly larger variants, is well suited to providing logistics to remote or disaster response areas globally because of the aircraft’s unique ability to land on any relatively flat surface with no need for prepared runways. The Airlander Futures Network has been established and is working with market shapers in logistics to refine the specification of these larger aircraft.

About Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd

Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd (HAV) is a UK-based leader in advanced, sustainable aircraft technologies and the company behind Airlander, a family of ultra-efficient aircraft capable of delivering multi-day, efficient flight across travel and tourism, logistics, regional mobility, and communications & surveillance. HAV’s first production aircraft, the Airlander 10, is capable of delivering 100-seat passenger mobility, a ten-ton payload, or a combination of the two. Airlander 10’s production at a purpose-built factory in South Yorkshire will be the centre of a green advanced manufacturing boom in the region. Additional production sites are under consideration in the United States and other global locations.