On: Airlander 10: World's longest aircraft gets full-p...

[stevehawk]

It'd never be close enough to ground fire to matter. You're using altitude for general line of sight and then some very quality antennas to pick up anything in a very significant radius.

[outworlder → stevehawk]

FL 20 ceiling is not high at all. That's the lowest Class A airspace goes, which is where you'll find most commercial flights.

[userbinator → outworlder]

MH17 was shot down from the ground while flying at 33,000 feet, so 20k is definitely not out of reach.

[peteretep → userbinator]

But not by small arms fire, or a shoulder-mounted device — it was essentially shot down by an anti-aircraft installation (wheeled though it is)

[dingaling → peteretep]

But within the ceiling of 37mm or 40mm flak, which are towable behind a pick-up.

[ceejayoz → userbinator]

These things aren't going to go anywhere near a SA-17 site.

They're for taking on ISIS-style insurgencies, not nation-state actors.

[dsfyu404ed → stevehawk]

>It'd never be close enough to ground fire to matter.

Famous last words. MANPADS are getting better all the time.

[walshemj → dsfyu404ed]

Getting to 20k probably not any time soon

[dingaling → walshemj]

SA-25 tops-out at about 4.5km, 14,800ft, against a manoeuvering target. Each successive generation of Russian MANPADS seems to push another 500m higher.

Bear in mind that the Airlander's ceiling was previously stated at 16,000ft so there's not a lot of margin.