ISIS, the solar powered battlefield surveillance blimp

We’ve all seen those big plump tire-advertising blimps floating gracefully above. Here’s a blimp that you’ll see, if you’re standing in a battlefield. The ISIS blimp by DARPA will be used for battlefield surveillance and is packed with all the equipment needed. What’s more, this blimp is automated and will take off from a permanent ground base in the U.S. and float to its specified destination hovering 60 miles above ground. Maybe it won’t crash into an angel, but that’s high enough to keep it safe from missiles.

So what’s green about this war-aiding device? This blimp is self-sustainable. It uses energy from the sun to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. The ISIS then recombines this into a fuel during the night time. The structure is lightweight and rigid and absorbs enough sunlight to satisfy electric needs. An innovation like this could change the world of civil aviation in future too!

[Fastcompany]