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Table 1: Summary of DoD LTA VehiclesAerostats Agency StatusAerostat Test Bed (ATB) Army Test & EvaluationAltus Army Test & EvaluationJoint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated NettedSensor System (JLENS)ArmyTest & EvaluationPersistent Ground Surveillance System (PGSS) Navy Deployed OEFPersistent Threat Detection System (PTDS) Army Deployed OEFRapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) Army In StorageRapidly Elevated Aerostat Platforms XL B(REAP XL B)Small, Tactical, Multi-Payload Aerostat System(STMPAS)Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS)AirshipsArmyArmyAir ForceDeployed OEFTest & EvaluationDeployed U.S.BordersBlue Devil 2 Air Force Currently UnfundedHigh-Altitude Long Endurance Demonstrator (HALE-D) Army Currently UnfundedHiSentinel Army Currently UnfundedIntegrated Sensor Is Structure (ISIS)DARPA,Air ForceDevelopmentLong Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) Army Test & EvaluationMZ-3APelicanNavyASD(R&E),NASA AmesActive T&EPlatformDevelopmentSkybus Army In Storage4
INTRODUCTIONBackgroundModern LTA craft have a lineage spanning back to the flight of the first hot air balloon byJoseph and Étienne Montgolfier of France in 1783. Since that time, LTA vehicles have seen avariety of military and commercial uses. For example, balloons were used to raise scouts severalhundred feet into the air to observe troop movements during the American Civil War. In the late19th century, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin developed the first rigid shell airship, the LZ-1,which weighed 13 tons and saw use first for passenger travel and later in the German military.LZ-1s were used in the Zeppelin bombing campaigns of World War I and also as defense assets,surveying harbors and protecting convoys. 3 “Airships were attractive during the early days ofmilitary aviation because, with buoyancy provided by hydrogen or helium, the engines neededonly enough power to move the aircraft at relatively low speed and airframes needed onlyenough strength to support their own weight and to withstand the relatively mild stressesassociated with low-speed flight. Fixed-wing aircraft, in contrast, required stronger airframestructures and more powerful and reliable engines because their lift is derived from pushingwings through the air at high speed.” 4 Military interest in LTA vehicles stems from their abilityto support persistence, loitering, weapons delivery and, more recently, potential logistics missioncapabilities.The historical role of LTA vehicles in military engagement varied depending on thetechnological advancements at the time and the ability of adversaries to mount defenses againstthe vehicles. The U.S. military has procured, tested, developed and used LTA vehicles since the1920s. The initial airships, all clad or rigid envelope structures, were used largely forexperimental, transport and utility purposes. After several airships were lost, constructiontransitioned to non-rigid airships. Immediately prior to and during World War II, airshipproduction increased and the vehicles played an important role in efforts such as sweeping formines, performing search and rescue, escorting convoys and various ISR tasks such as scouting,photographic reconnaissance, and antisubmarine patrols. 5 While airships saw some use inbombing campaigns, too many systems were lost to fighter planes and the airships assumed amore defensive role. 3The U.S. was not the only country to use airship technology during World War II. Japan usedLTA technology in the form of incendiary bombs called Fu-Go, which were floated across thePacific using balloons. Approximately 1,000 Fu-Go landed within the U.S., 5 but the bombs werenot very effective, killing only 5 civilians who accidentally happened upon a fallen balloon at afamily picnic. Interest in LTA vehicles dropped off after World War II and the U.S. Navy airshipprogram was stopped in 1962. 6In the 1980s, LTA vehicles received a new lease on life with the use of several tethered aerostatsfor counter-narcotics and drug interdiction missions on the U.S. border and in the Caribbean. 7 Asthe U.S. engaged in conflicts where airspace was less contested, such as Iraq and Afghanistan,interest increased in the development and use of LTA vehicles for multiple purposes. Forexample, tethered aerostat platforms have been highly successful at providing persistent ISR andforce protection capabilities at forward-operating bases and even smaller tactical units in OIFand OEF. Additionally, senior military officials are interested in developing airships for logisticstransport and believe such ships would enable “rapid deployment of forces to world hotspots.” 85
Page 1 and 2: SUMMARY REPORT OF DoD FUNDED LIGHTE
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Page 5 and 6: Figure 11: Computer Rendering of Al
Page 7 and 8: Table 22: HALE-D Program Overview .
Page 9 and 10: EXECUTIVE SUMMARYIn the Senate repo
Page 11 and 12: for unmanned aerial vehicle and cru
Page 13 and 14: Integrated Sensor Is Structure (ISI
Page 15 and 16: PREFACECongress, through the Senate
Page 17: PURPOSEThe purpose of this document
Page 21 and 22: ground, large aerostats are anchore
Page 23 and 24: AirliftAirships, particularly hybri
Page 25 and 26: AEROSTAT PROGRAMSAerostats are air
Page 27 and 28: Aerostat Test Bed (ATB)Table 2: ATB
Page 29 and 30: AltusTable 4: Altus Program Overvie
Page 31 and 32: would otherwise lack organic survei
Page 33 and 34: Table 7: JLENS Technical Specificat
Page 35 and 36: Persistent Ground Surveillance Syst
Page 37 and 38: and advance systems capabilities as
Page 39 and 40: Length: 117 ft.Width: 39 ft.Height:
Page 41 and 42: Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (
Page 43 and 44: Rapidly Elevated Aerostat Platforms
Page 45 and 46: tether lengths to support different
Page 47 and 48: Length: 26.87 ft.Table 17: STMPAS T
Page 49 and 50: Table 19: TARS Technical Specificat
Page 51 and 52: AIRSHIP PROGRAMSDespite the fact th
Page 53 and 54: Figure 30: Size Comparison for Hybr
Page 55 and 56: Table 21: Blue Devil 2 Technical Sp
Page 57 and 58: High-Altitude Long Endurance-Demons
Page 59 and 60: HiSentinelTable 24: HiSentinel Prog
Page 61 and 62: Table 26: Comparison of HiSentinel
Page 63 and 64: Table 28: ISIS Technical Specificat
Page 65 and 66: Table 30: LEMV Technical Specificat
Page 67 and 68: MZ-3AVehicle Class: Conventional Ai
Page 69 and 70:
PelicanTable 33: Pelican Program Ov
Page 71 and 72:
Figure 53: Illustration Showing Lig
Page 73 and 74:
Table 36: Skybus Technical Specific
Page 75 and 76:
APPENDICESAppendix A- BalloonsIntro
Page 77 and 78:
could be separated from the balloon
Page 79 and 80:
Appendix B - Glossary of TermsAAero
Page 81 and 82:
ATECAVAWSSBBAAVBCTBLOSCC2C3IC4ISRC5
Page 83 and 84:
IFFIPTISRITSJJCTDJIEDDOJMUAJROCJUON
Page 85 and 86:
SIGINTSINCGARSSIPRNetSMDBLSMDCSRVSu
Page 87 and 88:
Appendix D - References1. The Senat
Page 89 and 90:
43. “Lockheed Martin ISIS”. HIS
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