PRL Logistics Teams with Straightline Aviation
Senator Welcomes Game-Changing Aircraft to the Region
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Aug. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hybrid
Enterprises, the exclusive worldwide reseller of Lockheed Martin's
Hybrid Airships, is excited to announce a strategic partnership
between PRL Logistics Inc., a leader in remote site logistics, and
UK-based Hybrid Airship owner and operator, Straightline Aviation.
This partnership will introduce the world's first heavy-lift Hybrid
Airship – the LMH-1.
Developed and built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), the LMH-1
has the ability to land on virtually any surface including snow,
ice, gravel and even water. These football field sized airships
will provide low cost and environmentally friendly solutions for
moving freight and personnel to the most isolated regions of
Alaska and Northern Canada.
"Lockheed Martin would be proud to have its Hybrid Airships
operating in Alaska," said
Rob Weiss, executive vice president
and general manager, Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs
(Skunk Works®). "Alaska is an
ideal location for the Hybrid Airship to operate. The airship
enables access to Alaska's most
isolated regions, and is designed to protect the sensitive
ecological environment."
Hybrid Airships combine the technology of lighter than air
aircraft with airplanes, helicopters and hovercraft. Helium
provides 80 percent of the lift, and the remaining lift comes from
the aerodynamic shape of the aircraft and its four thrust vectoring
engines. The airship also features a unique hovercraft-like Air
Cushion Landing System that facilitates taxiing and holds the craft
firmly on the ground.
PRL Logistics is founded, owned and operated in Alaska, offering a variety of project services
and comprehensive logistics solutions including: project
management, project planning, modeling, safety, procurement and
field execution. PRL serves a broad range of projects and clients
in the oil and gas, mining, defense, industrial, construction
and environmental industries.
"PRL's understanding of the
complexities of working in Alaska's extremely remote site and our
partnership with Straightline Aviation, whose airship operating
experience is unparalleled, means this will be a true game changer.
It affordably opens up many projects currently inaccessible without
the development of the costly infrastructure required by
traditional modes of transportation." Ron
Hyde, PRL CEO
Michael Kendrick, Chief Executive
of Straightline Aviation added,
"We are equally thrilled to
enter into this alliance with PRL and merge our understanding of
airship operations with their unique knowledge of logistics,
working in some of the most unforgiving terrain and conditions on
the planet. Together we will usher in a new environmentally
friendly age of air transport."
U.S. Senator from Alaska,
Dan Sullivan, also a former
Commissioner for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources:
"I am pleased to hear this
announcement. Alaska is a
storehouse of immense natural resource wealth. This combination of
technology and innovation will enable access to resources and
provide needed benefits to our infrastructure. It is an example of
a company operating to provide a transportation solution to meet
Alaska's unique
challenges."
For Alaska, airship operations
will be based at the PRL Logistics Operations Center in
Kenai, Alaska and supported by
other PRL locations throughout the state. PRL's premier Kenai
Facility has overland, marine, and aviation access and will also be
the base operations center for the Hybrid Airship.
The first aircraft are to be delivered in 2019 and will carry up
to 22 tons of freight, along with 18 passengers plus crew.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160829/402237