Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25266931-20170206193307/@comment-14138255-20170217033932

Giant Airships aren't as effective in terms of creating a panopticon as a drone that can go to hard to reach places is. And Airships are more used to carry personal and to be used as nerve centers for troops on the ground as well as the obvious use as military aerial capital ships to be used in combat.

It's entirely possible that the red is simply for audience benefit, they probably look the same as normal in show. If they displayed red, it wouldn't matter as the important thing is "Atlesian Robots are attacking people" (also keep in mind the AK-170s had red lights on them).