High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Between 1908 and 1942 the U.S. Army had a program to operate airships. With the exceptions of the semi-rigid Roma and the RS-1, they were non-rigid "blimps". These airships were intended to perform search and patrol operations in support of coastal fortifications and border patrol. During the 1920s, the Army operated many more blimps than the U.S. Navy.