lighter-than-air vehicles - Defense Innovation Marketplace

Rapidly Elevated Aerostat Platforms XL B (REAP XL B)Table 14: REAP XL B Program OverviewVehicle Class: Tactical AerostatFigure 21: REAP XL B Deployment Sequence 24Mission Set: ISR, Force Protection Program Start: 2010Organization(s): Army G-2, Army REF,and Navy NSWC PCDTechnology Readiness Level (TRL): 8–9Primary Contractors: NEANY Inc., NAVMAR,Information Systems Laboratories Inc.The objective of the REAP XL B program isto provide a small, compact, highly mobile,rapidly deployable/ recoverable ISR systemto provide ISR, Force Protection,detecting/identifying targets in day, night,and limited visibility such as haze, smoke,and fog to the battle command team (BCT)and other tactical forces. 29REAP XL B is a highly mobile, compact,tactical aerostat system that can move intoan area of operation, set up, automaticallyinflate the aerostat, lift a 120 lb. payload(e.g. COMMS, Signals Intelligence[SIGINT], EO/ IR, short wave infrared[SWIR], FMV, etc.) up to 1,000 ft. AGL inless than 15 minutes and recover in 10minutes. Currently, U.S. soldiers operate thesystem after receiving certification trainingfrom civilian contractors. Two operators arerequired to launch REAP, and 3 operatorsare required to recover the system. Currentsystems have EO/IR long wave infrared(LWIR)/SWIR payloads, which can viewobjects out to 10 km. from 1,000 ft. AGL(4,500 ft. operational altitude). REAP XL Bmeasures 39 ft. in length, 16 ft. in diameter29