Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Comparison of aircraft fuel efficiency_
| Range, km | Aircraft | Fuel weight, kg | Payload weight, kg | Gross take-off weight, kg | Cargo weight to gross takeoff weight ratio, kg/kg | Fuel weight to gross take-off weight ratio kg/kg | Fuel efficiency, g/kg/km |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 555 | Classic airship for short range mission | 1362 | 21792 | 45400 | 0.48 | 0.03 | 0.1126 |
| 555 | B737-200 | 5448 | 15890 | 48124 | 0.33 | 0.11 | 0.6178 |
| 3700 | Classic airship for transcontinental mission | 13620 | 78088 | 227000 | 0.34 | 0.06 | 0.0471 |
| 3700 | L1011-500 | 41768 | 44038 | 195220 | 0.23 | 0.21 | 0.2563 |
| 9250 | Classic airship for intercontinental mission | 58112 | 204300 | 454000 | 0.45 | 0.13 | 0.0308 |
| 9250 | B747-200 | 148912 | 59020 | 372280 | 0.16 | 0.40 | 0.2728 |
Technical and economic characteristics of air vehicles_
| Air vehicle type | Helicopter | Aircraft | Airship class | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mi-26 | B747-400F | A330-300P2F | C-5B Galaxy | An-124 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Airship body volume, thousand m3 | 26 | 60 | 60 | 352 | |||||
| Take-off weight, t | 49.5 | 396.9 | 242 | 379.7 | 405 | 25.4 | 57 | 70.9 | 332 |
| Weight of commercial load, t | 20 | 112.6 | 63 | 118 | 120 | 58*** | up to 25 | 30–40 | up to 200 |
| Cruising speed, km/h | 180–255 | 908 | 910 | 860890 | 800850 | 115140 | 110145 | 140170 | 125165 |
| Flight range, km | 400–600 | 8230 | 6850 | 44405500 | 4500 | 2000 | 3000 | 1000 | 5000 |
| Patrolling time | up to 5 days | up to 15 days | |||||||
| Hourly fuel consumption, kg/h | 2540 | 10700 | 6310 | 9960 | 13000 | 40–70* 150300** | 90–150* 245490** | 490–540 980** | 980–1220 1860** |
| Fuel efficiency, g/t·km | 660 | 110 | 102 | 125 | 130 | 145230 | 90–160 | 105170 | 45–80 |
| Flight-hour cost, USD/hour | 14000 | 29400 | 8350 | 34200 | 22600 | 450600 | 650–1100 | 800–1400 | 23002900 |
| Cargo transportation cost, USD/t·km | 3.9 | 1.5 | 0.86 | 1.81 | 0.24 | 0.450.85 | 0.18–0.35 | 0.150.27 | 0.08–0.15 |