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ISR airship demonstrator to fly in August
February 26th, 2009 | AUSA Winter 2009 | Posted by Karen Walker
A 240 foot-long surveillance and reconnaissance airship demonstrator will take its maiden flight in August, climbing to 60,000 feet over the U.S. state of Ohio and staying up there for two weeks or more.
The Lockheed-Martin High Altitude Long Endurance Demonstrator, or HALE-D, will carry a camera, datalink and communications link. Its maiden flight from Lockheed Martin’s Akron, Ohio, facility will be an important first step toward showing that unmanned airships could provide persistent ISR capability, monitoring areas as large as Florida or Iraq for up to six months at a time.
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command is leading development efforts for an unmanned high altitude airship, which migrated from a Missile Defense Agency program.
Though the demonstrator will be a scaled down version of the airship that is ultimately envisioned, which will be up to 600 feet long, its August flight will be a significant proof-of-concept. Program funding past 2010 is not yet secured.
Having a successful flight in August will help us and probably be an important factor in continuation,