Lockheed Martin will build a prototype High Altitude Airship (HAA) under a $149.2 million contract awarded by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA). The prototype delivery and flight are scheduled for 2009. The unmanned dirigible is designed to track enemy missile during flight. "The HAA ...[will] provide a near-space, multi-mission guardian in the sky that is easily relocatable and can be stationed where needed most," said Lockheed Martin executive Ron Browning. Operating at 60,000 feet, the prototype will demonstrate launch and recovery, station-keeping and flight-control capabilities while carrying mission re-configurable payloads. It will be about 400 feet long and 140 feet in diameter, and will have a volume of 3.7 million cubic feet. It will be built in Lockheed Martin's facility in Akron. -- December 12, 2005