Bluestrike2 wrote:Unlikely. Speed, lifting capacity, and fuel efficiency would create some significant disadvantages with Safehold's tech base. Even today with our technology, projects for developing heavy lift capacity have hit a lot of snags despite some significant advantages for use in un/under-developed regions. The sea is still a much more efficient, and likely faster, option on Safehold. As for tactical operations, airship use in WWI was pretty limited and with almost no real consequence. Explosive shells and incendiary rounds--fire vine oil, for instance--would offer CoGA forces the weapons to repel any airship attacks.
You don't really need speed, much lifting capacity, or fuel efficiency to utilize a balloon or small blimp for scouting/spotting purposes. A few people, some fuel for the air heater (if you can't get hydrogen or helium for the lifting medium), and some telescopic spyscopes.
You could even use something tethered. All you'd need to do is keep it out of the range of the opposition's rifles, which would mean perhaps a thousand yards or so behind the lines.
However, Owl's SNARCs are probably much better, so that's most likely why "no one has thought of it". Most of the commanders of the larger ICA groups are members of the "Inner Circle"; so they don't *need* such observational capability. If things change, and smaller groups - with commanders who *DON'T* have access to SNARC data - are fielded, then this might change.
As far as bombing goes, I think you're missing something, however. A dirigible isn't a plane. It could hover, with only a bit of wind drift. You wouldn't have to calculate a trajectory based on the speed of the launching platform. If one added some fins to even a standard elongated shell, it would be "accurate enough" to hit any reasonably sized target; say a bunker or other fortification, or even a supply depot; if just aimed and dropped over the side by eye and hand.
They really didn't have much in the way of bombsights in WWI or *early* in WWII; but they still managed to successfully use bombs in many cases. It's more a question of what it is you want to bomb, and how big - and easy - a target it is to hit.
As far as lift goes, how much do you need even for bombing? I doubt they could build a large bomb anyway. It's likely that any bombs they might come up with would probably weigh about half the weight of a person or less. If you can transport 4 or 5 people in a hot air balloon, you should be able to transport 2 people and 4-6 bombs. In any case, bombing would probably be more of a psychological issue than actual physical damage, unless they come up with some sort of FAE; which probably wouldn't work unless you had a suicide mission in mind, since the balloon or dirigible isn't likely to be able to get outside the blast effect radius.