Hybrid airship Z1 to enter service soon – first customer found

It has become known that the project to build a huge airship AT2 Aerospace Z1, similar to a controlled cloud, is entering a new stage, as close as possible to commercial operation.
Initially, this vehicle, which had the ability to hover in the air, belonged to the class of military equipment.


Now he has quite peaceful tasks. They come down to delivering people and cargo to the most remote and remote corners of the world.


The design of this aircraft involves the use of an effective combination of hydrogen thrust and helium aerostatic lift. This tandem provides the "bird" with a range of up to 2600 km per flight. In addition, the Z1 is equipped with the proprietary Air Cushion chassis, which will allow it to land almost anywhere, including water. The developer is confident that this model will find application for the delivery of goods and materials, including to Arctic mines.

Hopes were not fulfilled

The AT2 Z1 has had a long and, in places, winding road to date. However, like other modern airships, it was not with much confidence in its success. Its history began two decades ago, when Lockheed Martin, together with DARPA, developed a non-rigid three-bladed airship. Then, in 2006, they conducted the first tests of the P-791 demonstration model, and in 2011, having lost the tender for the development of a multi-purpose reconnaissance vehicle for the US Army, the project was transferred to a commercial basis.


Over the course of more than a decade, the collaboration with various partners saw at least two evolutions of the P-791 design – the SkyTug and the LMH-1. There were even bids to purchase the airship, but the project never reached full scale. Ultimately, in 2023, the company sold all assets and intellectual property to a private company, AT2 Aerospace. The Z1 AT2 project manager is Bob Boyd, who previously led the airship program at Lockheed.

Main characteristics

Almost eighty percent of the AT2's lift comes from the buoyancy of its helium filler, which helps optimize the efficiency of its hydrogen fuel cell electric propulsion system.


According to the specification, the Z1 AT2 hybrid airship has the following dimensions:

✅length - 87,5 m
✅ width - 46,3 m
✅ height - 23,5 m

The distinctive feature of the model is the frameless three-petal Lockheed design. That is, the body consists of three parts, with the central "capsule" slightly raised in relation to the two sides. This unique shape, as they say, significantly improves the lifting force of a non-rigid vessel. And it, let us recall, is provided by 20% translational motion through a propulsion system with a thrust vector, and by 80% - by the "weightlessness" of helium, which fills the body of the aircraft.

Airplane on a hovercraft

The lower part of the central "petal" contains a cargo compartment and a 19-seat gondola for accommodating passengers. The sides are equipped with unique Air Cushion Landing System fans, which provide maximum versatility for the Z1. Thanks to this system, this vehicle lands on air cushions similar to those installed on sea vessels. Due to this, the presented aircraft is able to land on almost any surface, be it snow, ice, water, sand or grass.


In addition, the Air Cushion system ensures that the Z1 can easily “park” in the absence of any infrastructure, even on a dilapidated runway. While other airships are unlikely to be able to do this, and the maximum that can be done in such circumstances is to lower the cargo to the ground from above. Thus, one of the advantages of the Z1 AT2 is the fact that the logistical costs allocated to traditional transport infrastructure for the delivery of goods and the transportation of people, such as runways, highways and railways, can be completely eliminated. This applies even to the most remote places, such as arctic mines and oil platforms.

The Air Cushion technology also performs another function – suction, due to which the huge, and at the same time not particularly heavy, airship confidently stays “on its feet”, even in conditions of very strong wind.
The Z1 can take off both vertically and with minimal acceleration.

Obvious Benefits

As for the Z1 AT2 airship's carrying capacity, it is expected to be able to withstand a maximum load of 23 tons. And the cost of transporting such a quantity of cargo, compared to conventional by air, according to preliminary estimates, will be 20–40% less.

Two applicants at once

Perhaps this is what most interested potential buyers, but the fact is that over the past month the company has received two orders for the purchase of airships. One of the customers is the British company Straightline Aviation, which specializes in alternative air transport. transportThey pre-ordered it for $50 million.


Arctic Airships has also indicated its willingness to become the owner of the Z1. At the moment, they have ordered two cargo airships, but they plan to buy another eighteen such vessels.

So, perhaps, in the near future, as it seemed, the airship technology that “sunk into oblivion” will finally see the sky again. But about this, as they say, “with cautious optimism”, since up to now not one similar project has ingloriously “curtailed”. That is why the leaders of AT2 do not “shout” about their successes and try not to get ahead of events, so as not to scare away luck.


Apparently, for the same reason, they do not announce any specific dates and do not disclose all the technical details. Perhaps this will allow them to enter the market of environmentally friendly air transport with their airship among the first. But maybe not. After all, the competition for primacy in this matter between the main players in the industry, such as Varialift, Flying Whales, Grands Espaces, can be serious. The latter, by the way, plan to launch tourist routes to the Arctic in 2028. The preliminary cost of a ticket will be about 200 dollars (about 000 million rubles).

In Russia, the prospects of this direction are also positively assessed. In 2023, the Foundation for Advanced Research launched a project to create its own controlled wind-resistant aerostat for delivering cargo to remote, hard-to-reach points of our vast homeland.