FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2016
LOCKHEED HYBRID AIRSHIPS ARE COMING TO ALASKA
PRL Logistics Teams with Straightline Aviation to Bring World’s
First Game-Changing Aircraft to the Region
Senators Welcome First Provider of Hybrid Aircraft in the World
Anchorage, Alaska, Aug. 30, 2016 – PRL Logistics Inc., a leader in remote site logistics, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with UK-based Hybrid Airship owner and operator, Straightline Aviation. This partnership will introduce the world’s first heavy-lift Hybrid Airships – 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.
Ron Hyde, Founder and CEO of PRL Logistics, Inc.:
“PRL’s understanding of the complexities of working in Alaska’s extremely remote sites, 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.”
Mike Kendrick, Founder and CEO 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.”
Peter A. Micciche, Senator – Alaska State Legislature, District O:
“The key to the success of the economy of our great state has always been dependent upon innovation and efficiency. The PRL strategic partnership with the UK’s Straightline Aviation serves as a prime example of such innovation. Although airships are not new technology, new generation heavy-lift, hybrid airships provide the potential to dramatically reduce the cost of moving critical components to remote locations like those inherent with Alaskan projects. I am excited by the potential of a Kenai Peninsula business leaping forward with creative, cost-saving solutions in the oil & gas, mining, construction, disaster management and emergency response sectors in Alaska.”
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.
Pat Porter, Mayor of Kenai, Alaska says,
“I am extremely proud and excited about the possibilities that exist for Alaska and the community of Kenai with this amazing new airship coupled with PRL Logistics’ Kenai Logistics Operations Center, their comprehensive logistics campus and remote project expertise.”
Chris Hladick, Commissioner of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development for the State of Alaska:
“It’s exciting to see Alaskan-founded and operated companies pursuing innovative technologies, especially ones that have potential to bring important services to remote communities.”
Straightline Aviation is purchasing the aircraft through Hybrid Enterprises, the exclusive worldwide reseller of Lockheed Martin’s Hybrid Airships. The first aircraft are to be delivered in 2019 and will carry up to 22 tons of freight, along with 18 passengers plus crew.
Contact Information:
PRL Logistics, Inc.
Ron Hyde
Telephone: 907-261-9440
Cell: 907-223-1242
Email: ron.hyde@pacrimlog.com
Website: www.pacrimlog.com
Straightline Aviation Limited
Michael Kendrick
Mark Dorey
Telephone: +44 1384 904035
Email: info@straightlineaviation.com
Website: www.straightlineaviation.com