Army Examining ‘Blimp In A Box’ Mobile Tactical Surveillance System
The Army is examining a small, tactical, mobile “Blimp in a Box, ™” or BiB, from Global Telesat Corp./World Surveillance Group Inc. (GTC/WSGI) that can carry various sensors and communications packages for military applications such as force protection, situational awareness and persistent surveillance, company officials said.
“BIB–is something really unique,” said Glenn Estrella, president and CEO of World Surveillance Group Inc (WSGI). “There’s nothing the Army has purchased that is on-the-go capable.”
The unique BIB system is self-contained in a box tough enough to be airdropped, and can be towed by a small trailer, put in the bed of a pickup or put on a boat. In 15 minutes, BIB inflates itself and rises up on its tether to a maximum altitude of about 2,000 feet, giving a line-of-sight view of some 30 miles. Once on high, soldiers can hop back in their vehicle, put it in gear and start driving, towing the airborne BIB. BIB is also quiet. There’s no noise associated with it.
The Army was interested enough to award GTC/WSGI a $605,000 contract and WSGI has delivered two BIBs that the service is examining.
Estrella said, “The BIB envelope is based on a two-ply method.” Inside is a Helium retention bladder, and there is a protective layer of laminated, UV inhibitor materials for puncture resistance and hull shape retention.”
A prototype BIB concept from WSGI was unveiled last year at the AUVSI show and received a lot of interest, said Dan Erdberg, company vice president for business development.
The company, based at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., has followed the lighter than air market from many years, and saw the market evolving. However, while large airships have assorted issues, for example cost and operation in bad weather, the company felt the market was going toward smaller tactical systems.
Small, rapidly deployed systems, with sensors or communications packages were in the market area where WSGI felt it would be a success, he said.
As the company built the two systems for the Army, they had been working with LTAS, an aerostat builder in Jacksonville, Fla. In April, WSGI bought the company as it “felt like a good fit,” and it was an acquisition that made sense, Estrella said.
“We’re trying to corner that market, be leading vendor” in the small tactical lighter than air market, he said. Aerostat and airship makers are generally pursuing larger systems than BIB, he said, citing companies such as TCOM LP, Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Raytheon [RTN].
The BIB can stay aloft 24-36 hours, depending on where troops are operating, the temperature and altitude before it needs to come down. The winch features variable speeds and remote controls. Once down, a top off tube connects into a canister, adding Helium, then it can be winched up again.
“It’s about as persistent as you can get without 100 percent uptime,” he said. Unmanned aerial vehicles have to land and refuel, large aerostats can’t operate without a large infrastructure, and both require more operators.
BIB is in “a unique sweet spot,” he said. The two systems and their ISR payloads each cost $300,000. Commercial versions, for farming, the oil and gas industry or other use would be more economical because they wouldn’t have as costly a payload or military specifications.
At Ft. Polk, La., a BIB system is being run through its paces, with a specialized ISR payload, one that is not currently in the Army inventory. While it is something that can be done, at this point the Army has not asked for the system to be able to integrate already existing payload systems.
Additionally, the simple operation of the BIB, using a laptop or ground station and joystick, can pump feeds into multiple different systems. That is an ability to be part of the network operations that the Army has consistently said it wants.
Interest in the systems has come from the Joint IED Defeat Organization, the Army Space and Missile Defense Command. WSGI also has been talking to domestic and international groups from the Department of Homeland Security to NATO to the United Nations about potential BIB uses.