As federal regulators consider opening new radio frequencies to wireless services, Google is already eyeing the frequencies to deliver Internet access from the sky via drones and balloons. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission Friday, Google said new bands could “be useful for offering broadband access via airborne platforms such as high-altitude balloons or unmanned aerial vehicles.” Continue reading
Category Archives: Lighter Than Air
Israeli Police Lease Tactical Aerostats
Israeli firm RT LTA has announced that it has been awarded a two year lease contract to provide Skystar 180 aerostats by the hour with crew to assist Israeli police. Continue reading
Eglin Air Force Base Gets More Aerostats
Drone Aviation Holding Corp., a developer of specialised lighter-than-air aerostats and tethered drones, has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Drone Aviation Corp., has delivered a follow-on order of aerial and ground-based equipment to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. This delivery is the latest of multiple military customers who continue to actively utilise the Company’s mobile aerostat launcher systems as part of their ongoing operations. Continue reading
Time Lapse Inflation of a JLENS Aerostat
Time lapse inflation of a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) aerostat at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., Dec. 14, 2014. JLENS provides national command authorities with increased situational awareness and early warning detection against possible threats. Continue reading
Drone-Hunting Blimp Over Washington
On Friday, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, will launch a giant drone-hunting blimp over Maryland’s Aberdeen Proving Grounds just east of Washington D.C. The system includes a 242-foot balloon (technically called an aerostat because it’s connected to the ground) that can stay up for a month at a time and a radar to detect — among other potential threats— drones.
Ohio Buys ‘Blimp in a Box’ for Surveillance
The Ohio Department of Transportation spent $180,000 on a “blimp in a box” that officials say could be used by a number of state agencies and its first mission could be to keep watch over two Warren County prisons. The device is a tethered, unmanned helium balloon that monitors an area via cameras for as long as three days at a time.
CBP Launches Tethered Aerostat System in Puerto Rico
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Air and Marine Operations officially launched last Friday the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) within its previous location in the southwestern coast of the island of Puerto Rico. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman/HAV-Developed Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) Reappears as HAV Airlander
A 300-foot-long aircraft originally developed for, by then dropped by, the US Army was recently re-unveiled in Great Britain as the world’s largest aircraft. The HAV 304 “Airlander” is an amalgamation of airship, airplane, helicopter and hovercraft features, and is referred to as a hybrid air vehicle. Continue reading