Airships may lose their maritime logistics window to large VTOL aircraft

Could airships have a practical future role in maritime affairs?

Possibly in logistics, but large VTOL aircraft may become faster, safer substitutes before airships find a durable operational niche.

Airships could carry large loads and reach places that lack normal runways, which explains recurring interest in them for logistics. Their slow speed and defensive burden remain serious drawbacks in a faster threat environment. Several large VTOL aircraft could move the same load faster and with better survival prospects. Competing technology may mature before the airship's operational window opens.