Look! Up in the sky! It's a Blimp! It's a Plane!

Inflatable Wing - Celeste Ecoflyers

Defence Blog reports:

A French startup has completed ground avionics testing of an unusual fixed-wing aircraft with a pneumatic wing structure, targeting long-endurance cargo logistics missions with a design that trades speed for dramatically reduced energy consumption per kilogram transported.

“Celeste isn’t a blimp, it’s a fixed-wing aircraft,” the company stated. “Lift is aerodynamic, not buoyancy. What’s pneumatic is the wing structure itself: a pressurized textile envelope replacing the rigid skin and spars, which is what makes the airframe deployable, field-repairable, and gives it an unusual radar signature for an 8-meter platform.”