BAGPHES and the Foxbat

My first CO (CDR West) was a bag pilot.  Single wing on his wash khakis.  Great guy to listen to.

Subsequently (early '80s) I was involved in a small way in the assessment of survivability of bags employed in lieu of E-2s for 'Battleship Battle Groups'.  The bag mafia had presentations on the ability of a long range radar equipped air ship to survive attacks by Soviet fighters over the northern portions of the North Sea.

I offered - in more artful terms than as follows - that, in my opinion, 'hi G gondola rolls' and 'bag overs' notwithstanding, any competent AAM, one with an expanding rod warhead for example, would destroy the bag and its crew over very inhospitable waters.

Dunno if that was considered but it best represented the relevant materials I had at the time.

On the other hand, much more recently, the applicability of a bag in a role similar to TAGOS has been discussed.  Though I am no longer able to make any informed opinions. this to me seems a more suitable application, especially in areas remote from hostile air bases.  Appropriately masked and loitering while an array is deployed, such a platform may even be less prone to counter detection by submarines than current passive platforms.