Ballon vs Dirigible

[RED]

What the Hell. Now we are being told the Chinese ballon shot down over the Atlantic coast had propellers? Does not make sense. What is the difference between a balloon and a dirigible.

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Airship? and ?dirigible? are synonyms; a dirigible is any lighter-than-air craft that is powered and steerable, as opposed to free floating like a balloon. The word ?dirigible? is often associated with rigid airships but the term does not come from the word ?rigid? but from the French verb diriger (?to steer?)
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[blackhawknj]

An airship is a maneuverable craft that relies of lighter than air gasses for lift. A blimp gets its shape from its gasses, deflates when the gas isn''t present.
A dirigible has a rigid or semi-rigid frame, strictly speaking a zeppelin was a produce of the German Zeppelin company.
Some overlap of course. Like "tank"-to us it has its main armament in a rotating turret, but the British Mark VIII of WWI had its guns mounted in sponsons on either side, The M3 Grant had its main armament in a sponson with limited traverse, the French Char B1 has its main gun in the hull.