CNN: “Never-Seen Chinese Military Airship Photographed in Desert Area”

A huge airship, a very long runway and a hangar. Surprising images released exclusively by CNN of a Chinese military-developed aircraft photographed for the first time at a remote base in the desert of northwest China, show new exclusive satellite images obtained by the network from the US satellite imagery company BlackSky. According to aerospace experts, the images, taken three months earlier That a Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina, could signal a notable advance in the Chinese airship program, showing a more versatile and maneuverable craft than those known.

The images, taken in November 2022 by BlackSky, show a 100-foot-long airship in the center of a nearly mile-long airstrip at a desert military compound. CNN has submitted the images to several aerospace experts, who have confirmed that it is an airship and an airstrip, delimited by a pivot point used for launching airships, as well as a huge hangar of almost 274 meters.

Oklahoma Aerospace Institute executive director Jamey Jacobs said an airship like this could be used as a “submarine of the skies” and that it appears to have propulsion and navigation capabilities that would allow it to fly over an area for an extended period. Several officials of theintelligence statunitense they admitted to knowing about the Chinese base, but did not want to talk about it or about the airship. A senior official of the Department of Defense he declined to comment on what threats the airship posed to China’s arsenal, but said that because it is visible, the Pentagon is aware of it: “It can be expected that, because it is available through satellite imagery, we are tracking the object.” .