“A much better idea would be to put a heavy lift airship on duty, carrying an enormous amount of water.”
I read articles many years ago about the variety of disaster situations in which a heavy lift airship could be invaluable. Not sure why that’s never moved forward...Hindenburg hangover (in spite improved technology)?
It is moving forward.
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/army-orders-huge-airship-aid-combat-missions-100616.html
U.S. Army Orders Huge (HAV-3) Airship to Aid Combat Missions
The United States Army has ordered a huge hybrid airship longer than a football field to watch over battlefields in Afghanistan by the end of 2011, according to the airship’s builder Northrop Grumman Corporation.
The company has received a $517 million Army contract to build up to three of the huge military airships, called the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicles (LEMV). Such airships would serve as surveillance stations at 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) above sea level and could stay on watch for as long as three weeks at a time.
*also*
The P-791 is an experimental aerostatic/aerodynamic hybrid airship developed by Lockheed-Martin corporation. The first flight of the P-791 was on 31 January 2006 at the company’s flight test facility on the Palmdale Air Force Plant 42. It has a unique tri-hull shape, with disk-shaped cushions on the bottom for landing.
*also*
The Zeppelin NT (”Neue Technologie”, German for new technology) is a class of airships being manufactured since the 1990s by the German company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (ZLT) in Friedrichshafen.
The Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd, Britain, Sky Cat airship.
The Hua Jiao Airship China, HJ-2000 airship.