JIEDDO Testing 'Blimp In A Box' In
Exercises With Soldiers At Ft. Polk
Posted on InsideDefense.com: September 9, 2013
A blimp that can be mounted to a truck bed or trailer to capture surveillance data on the move is being
tested in a series of exercises at Ft. Polk, LA, for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat
Organization, according to the blimp's manufacturer.
The "Blimp in a Box" is an aerostat system that can be deployed in 15 minutes. Using a highly
stabilized camera, the system can provide important intelligence to troops on the ground while moving,
Dan Erdberg, head of business development at World Surveillance Group Inc., told Inside the Army in
an interview last month. The ability to use a surveillance blimp while it is moving rapidly through an
area makes the system "unique," he added. "We don't believe there is anything like this available."
The blimp can operate at a range of altitudes up to 2,000 feet and its camera can "see" up to 30 miles
away, he added.
Looking for capabilities that would support the warfighter in defeating improvised explosive devices,
JIEDDO sought out the company and requested the systems, Erdberg noted. JIEDDO awarded a solesource contract for two of the systems for $605,000 and World Surveillance Group delivered the first
system in April and the second in May. The company has been training soldiers on how to deploy the
blimps at Ft. Polk in advance of live exercises designed to evaluate the systems.
With the camera on the blimp, "you are able to decipher the difference between someone digging a
hole in the ground or if it's a person with a gun or if it's a person with a donkey. You are able to use it
for force protection, to look for disturbed earth" -- evidence of roadside bombs -- "or route clearing,"
Erdberg stated. The system could also be used as a deterrent if the blimps are flown near a forward
operating base or used as "an eye in the sky" for patrols about to go into a new town or province, he
added.
The systems JIEDDO has purchased are mounted on a trailer towed by a humvee or a Mine-Resistant
Ambush Protected vehicle, but the company has an "air-droppable" option that can fit into an airdrop
crate and then mounted onto any standard military trailer in theater or bolted into the back of a pickup
truck, according to Erdberg.
The system requires a minimum of two soldiers to deploy it. The soldiers pump helium into the aerostat
and, once it is inflated, use a remote control to operate a winch that releases the tether at variable
speeds, Erdberg said. All power and data communications are provided through the tether, he noted.
The system can fly for about 24 hours before a small amount of helium leaks out, he noted. The
system comes with a hose to top-off the helium and re-inflate the balloon within four minutes.
The company is not sure how long the evaluation at Ft. Polk will last, according to Erdberg, but
"following these exercises, we hope that the program could continue to grow."
World Surveillance Group has also provided Army Space and Missile Defense Command at Peterson
Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, CO, with two systems that have a communications package
instead of an ISR payload. The purpose is to extend the range of soldier communications, Erdberg
said.
In addition, the company has supported the Rapid Equipping Force's Small Tactical Multi-Payload
Aerostat System (STMPAS) program -- providing winches and control systems but not complete
packages, he said.
The REF has tested a wide variety of aerostats over the last few years. Most recently, it evaluated six
STMPAS aerostats at multiple locations in Afghanistan. STMPAS is manufactured by Carolina
Unmanned Vehicles, Inc., consists of several optional ISR payloads developed by Georgia Tech
Research Institute, and is attached to a Helikite (ITA, May 13). --Jen Judson