"Preliminary Structural Design of an Advanced Lighter-Than-Air Platform", - Arlington VA - USA September 26-28 2005

Nautilus S.p.A. and the Polytechnic of Turin have developed a very versatile product which consists in a very innovative remotely-piloted airship suitable for border and maritime surveillance missions and for telecommunication, both in military and civil area. One of the most critical issue of the project is the structure design, which features a very innovative architecture. This paper presents a first arrangement of the primary structure, specifically defined as the best compromise between the constructive and functional constraints and the easy-to-manufacture/low-cost requirement.