Tethered Aerostats
Tethered aerostats (TA) are the most cost-effective platforms for aerial surveillance or communication. The TA can serve as high raise towers with various types of equipment installed on the top. Being up to 5 000 m tall, these “towers” significantly expand the range of the said equipment. Unlike any other manned or unmanned aerial vehicles they do not have any propulsion system and can stay up in the air for weeks using only the LTA gas buoyancy. They are fixed to the ground by the integrated tethers, which include light and strong yarns, wires for electric power supply and fiberoptic lines for high speed data transfer.
The integrated ground mooring system IGMS (4) of the tethered aerostat (1) are designed to safely accommodate these large objects on ground at very strong winds of any direction using 3-points mooring rigging (3) and also to descend or ascend the TA using the special high capacity winch with the tether (2). The TA can be customized in accordance to the customer requests and type of payloads.
The Tethered Aerostats’ Properties by Size/Volume
| Parameter/Class | Low Volume TA | Medium volume TA | Large Volume TA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume, m³ | 100 – 1 000 | 1 000 – 4 000 | 4 000 – 20 000 |
| Length, m | 12 – 27 | 27 - 40 | 40 - 73 |
| Operational altitude, m | up to 1 000 | up to 3 000 | up to 5 000 |
| Flight endurance, days | up to 15 | up to 30 | up to 45 |
| Payload, kg | up to 100 | up to 500 | up to 3 000 |
| Max. operational wind speed, m/s | 25 | 35 | 45 |
| Power supply, kW | up to 3 | up to 25 | up to 50 |
Low Volume
Low volume or Tactical size Tethered Aerostats can be sharply delivered and rapidly deployed at any unprepared site for over-the-hill surveillance or radio connection. Equipped by a video cameras or radio communication equipment the Low volume TA are the very effective tools to provide security and other support services for big public and sport events. Beside that they can serve as a flying advertising banner.
Medium Volume
Medium Volume Tethered Aerostats are the larger yet mobile systems capable to increase range of multimode airborne radars, communication relays or other special mission payloads. They can be used for detection and tracking of low flying ground & water targets, can be additionally equipped by high-resolution gyro-stabilized day/night cameras and used as a powerful border guard, for illegal fishing or forest fires detection, industrial and governmental sites security and many other purposes.
Large Volume
Large Volume Tethered Aerostats are the most weather resistant platforms designated to lift up a wide choice of heavy long-range surveilance or communication equipment intended for the long term continuous duty. They can be used as a platform for aerial early warning systems replacing AWACS or similar complexes at much lower cost. The IGMS of the Large Volume TA can be either stationary or relocatable.
Tethered Aerostats are time proven and highly effective solution. They have a long history of successful use for air barrage, aerial reconnaissance and surveillance missions. The new generation of aerostats are made of light and strong materials, using state-of-the-art innovative technologies and can be used for a much wider range of applications.
