By B.C. Kessner
This year has been a banner one for aerostat deployments into Iraq and Afghanistan, with coalition forces developing new ways to use them in support of troops on the ground, according to a Lockheed Martin [LMT] executive.
“When you have this continuous eye in the sky, you begin to look at a variety of mission support areas that you may not have realized you had the capability for in the past,” Ron Browning, Lockheed Martin airship business development director, told Defense Daily yesterday. “These could be counter-IED activities, convoy support, and others depending on the type of operation and things like geography.”
Lockheed Martin’s Persistent Threat Detection System (PTDS) is a tethered aerostat-based system in use by the Army since 2004 (Defense Daily, Nov. 30, 2006). It is equipped with multi-mission sensors to provide long endurance intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and communications in support of coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The PTDS consists of an aerostat, tether, mobile mooring platform, mission payloads, ground control shelter, maintenance and officer shelter and power generators and site- handling equipment.
In response to urgent needs and a push by Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter, there has been a tremendous ramp-up in recent years to deliver unmanned persistent ISR platforms into theater, Browning said.
Last year, Lockheed Martin delivered 28 of the 37 total systems it has provided to the Army since 2004, including nine PTDS systems delivered in July alone. “This was a reflection of what was coming back from the operational community…because PTDS fills a requirement that can’t be filled as quickly or affordably any other way,” he added.
The first PTDS deployments were in the Baghdad area, Browning said. Recently, more of the systems have been finding their way to Afghanistan, presumably in support of surge operations.
The differences in operational environments between Afghanistan and Baghdad are quite drastic, with the former more extreme in terms of weather and altitude, he added. “As a result, PTDS has grown in volume to account for basic physics of aerostatics, to the point where the baseline system now delivered is a 74,000 cubic-feet tethered aerostat.”
PTDS began as a 56,000 cubic-foot volume system, and then grew to 64,000 cubic-feet before reaching its current size, Browning said.
“It will probably not get bigger, because as it grows, so does the footprint,” he said. There are a lot of physical and topographic constraints in Afghanistan, and given current PTDS performance in terms of what it can lift and how high, the present configuration appears to be the right match for the requirements, Browning added.
The Army has said it is operating PTDS and other aerostat-type systems in Iraq and Afghanistan, including Raytheon‘s [RTN] Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment (RAID) system. RAID is smaller that PTDS and employs a variety of platforms, such as an aerostat, tower, or mast, and sensor suites designed to support ISR needs.
“Having the aerostat up over an extended period indicates to the bad guys that something is going on,” Browning said. “They may not know exactly what’s in there, but [it shows] that there is a capacity for them to be detected in whatever they are doing. It certainly is a deterrent factor just by its very presence.”
It can also make civilians feel more at ease, Jim Gring, communications manager at Lockheed Martin, said. PTDS were up during the recent elections in Afghanistan to help monitor and provide security, he added.
Several firms are investing a lot of money to link unmanned, ISR, and communications systems together in a way that would allow brigade commanders to set up private encrypted cellular networks over parts of the battlefield (Defense Daily, Nov. 4). Browning said that this was something the company is considering and PTDS could play a role in that future capability.
The nature of the coalition in Afghanistan leads to a lot of international interaction, including with PTDS, Browning said. The company is getting significant interest from nations that have soldiers learning first hand what the systems can provide on the battlefield, he added. “We are following up on those inquiries,” he said.
Due to the nature of ongoing PTDS operations, Browning and Gring said they were unable to elaborate more on the emerging capabilities that the Army is discovering along with company contractors who help operate the systems in theater. “There will be some great PTDS stories to tell, but unfortunately, we won’t be able to tell most of them until the war is over,” Gring said.
A spokesperson from the Army said the aerostat systems were performing well, but was unable to provide additional comment by press time.
“The Army is fielding the current set of deliveries and other capabilities of a similar nature,” Browning said. “We are in the mode of supporting operations and continuing to look at ways to make the overall system better for the Army, and we will be able to respond quickly if asked.”