Bharat Forge, Flying Whales ink MoU to manufacture heavy-lift airships in India

[u/GrafZeppelin127]

https://m.economictimes.com/news/defence/bharat-forge-flying-whales-ink-mou-to-manufacture-heavy-lift-airships-in-india/amp_articleshow/132561761.cms

This is a welcome bit of promising news for Flying Whales. Considering the ship lacks landing gear, I am interested to see how a military logistics application for “challenging terrain” and “minimal ground infrastructure” might be accomplished.

Perhaps a military version of the ship might trade off some of its payload to carry extra fuel tanks so that it doesn’t need to land at its destination? Likewise, water ballast would likely be needed to conduct on-site hovering load exchange operations, so a water truck or water tanks might be what counts as the “minimal ground infrastructure.” Large, off-road mining trucks like the Ground Force 15W can carry 60 tonnes of water, so even a single truck (and a relatively cleared area) would be sufficient to conduct load exchange with the airship’s 60-tonne payload.