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The company behind the Airlander 10 giant hybrid aircraft has secured its first reservations for use in the military.

Bedford-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) said three had been reserved by an “innovative defence contractor” looking to make use of Airlander’s unique capabilities.

Airlander 10, which has not yet gone into production, was expected to initially be certified for civil use, but HAV said its versatile nature meant it could be modified to meet the needs of the military market.

George Land, executive director of sales at HAV, said they were “pleased to be working with an undisclosed customer to provide three aircraft for further customisation”.

The Airlander is a combination of an airship and a plane and currently uses four combustion engines and gases to take-off and in flight.

HAV said the Airlander could:

• be used to transport personnel and equipment to austere environments as well as holding, releasing and recovering drones
• was capable of remaining in the air unrefuelled for up to five days, and operating from any relatively flat surface, including water
• could lift a payload of over three tonnes enabling high powered radars to remain aloft for days on end, as opposed to hours at present
• could cost-effectively survey large areas, monitoring anti-submarine warfare sensors

The company said new threats across the globe required new solutions, and Airlander would directly respond to current and emerging threats.

Work on a production facility started last December in Doncaster where it was expected airships would be built and tested in 2026.

The company had previously said the European-based Air Nostrum Group had reserved 10 Airlanders, but that number had increased to 20, for delivery by 2027.

The Airlander has been designed to be about 320ft (98m) long, with a cabin underneath, making it the world’s longest aircraft.

Mr Land said: “Its versatility, high payload, and endurance have always given Airlander 10 obvious advantages over other aircraft in Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (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.”

He added that they expected other military reservations to follow.