LONDON — A partnership deal to demonstrate the capabilities of a hybrid airship as a maritime surveillance platform has been signed by Selex ES and HybridAir Vehicles, according to an official at the defense electronics arm of Finmeccancia.
The companies are in talks with the British Ministry of Defence and other potential customers to conduct demonstration flights with the surveillance and reconnaissance platform starting next year, the official said.
Selex ES and HAV could announce they have inked a formal memorandum of understanding in the next few days.
The deal will see the British hybrid airship builder equip its Airlander 10 platform with the Selex's SeaSpray multimode active electronically scanned array radar, electronic support measures equipment, an electro optical/imaging infrared turret, a mission management system and other equipment, said the UK-based official.
With a 10-ton payload the Airlander 10 could house an array of sensors including anti-submarine warfare systems and search-and-rescue systems, said the official.
A HAV executive revealed last October the two sides were in talks which could lead to the British MoD testing the platform.
Although it has some modest updates, the 300-foot-long Airlander 10 is essentially the same HAV vehicle used by Northrop Grumman for the Long-Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) program canceled by the US Army in 2013 in the face of technical issues and Pentagon budget problems.
HAV repurchased the airship after the collapse of the LEMV program and has been rebuilding and updating the machine ahead of it flying taking to the sky in early 2016.
"We have put in some modifications, and will put in some more over the course of the next few months, particularly with regards to the payload module and the fins," said a HAV spokesman
The Selex ES official said the platform, with its basic ISR fit, will undertake four months of test flying ahead of conducting trials for various interested parties.
News of the tie-up between Britain's premier defense electronics producer and HAV coincides with an announcement scheduled for June 16 at the Paris Air Show by rival hybrid airship maker Lockheed Martin on progress with its vehicle.
The machines are being touted for military roles and civil uses from surveillance to transporting heavy loads.
Email: achuter@defensenews.com
Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.
