Unglamorous though they are, aerostats are carving a substantial niche in the airborne surveillance business. They come in all sizes, from 30 feet long and a volume of 2,500 cu ft, to a massive 242 feet and 590,000 cu ft. Unlike airships, they remain tethered to the ground, but the largest ones can fly as high as 15,000 feet. Here in the Middle East region, the U.S. military has used them extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gulf states, including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, use them to monitor borders and airspace.
“The use of aerostats by the U.S. military for persistent surveillance of war zones is gaining real traction as a cost-effective alternative to unmanned vehicles that require a significant investment,” said Lon Stroschein, vice president and general manager for the Aerostar International division of Raven Industries. This U.S. company is supplying aerostats for the latest U.S. Army program, called the Persistent Ground Surveillance System (PGSS). Such an aerostat, with a length of 80 feet and a volume of 25,000 cu ft, and carrying an L-3 Wescam Mx-15 EO/IR video camera, has an operating cost of hundred of dollars per hour, compared to many thousands for a UAV.
