Drone Aviation has completed a follow-on order covering delivery of aerial and ground-based aerostat equipment to the Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida, US.
The delivery makes Eglin AFB the latest of multiple military customers who continue to use the company’s mobile aerostat launcher systems as part of their ongoing operations.
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The firm’s aerostat-based systems include Blimp in a Box (BiB) and Winch aerostat small platform (WASP).
They are currently used by various US Department of Defense (DoD) customers, including the Army Space and Missile Defense Command, and the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.
Drone Aviation chief executive officer Felicia Hess said: "Eglin Air Force Base is just one of a number of Department of Defense customers that are actively deploying our aerostat platforms in support of their operations which will continue to drive our growth.
"As we enter 2015, we see a number of exciting military, governmental, and commercial opportunities for our unique, cost-effective tethered aerial platforms and are working on new products and capabilities that we fully expect will demonstrate the true value of our technology."
The aerostat-based product implementation at Eglin AFB is claimed to increase the capabilities of the persistent range instrumentation required by the Pentagon for furthering weapons and platform engineering and design efforts.
Currently, the DoD’s WASP systems are used for planning for various system integration exercises that will take place this year. Meanwhile the BiB systems are actively deployed for soldier training during rotational exercises at Folk Polk, Louisiana.
The BiB equipped with a day and night electro-optical / infrared camera. It is a tethered system designed to provide troops with semi-persistent, mobile intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance at the platoon level in the battlefield.
The WASP is a self-contained tactical aerostat system providing a secure communications package to enhance communications coverage, reduce the retransmissions forward positioning requirement, and also to facilitate operational dispersion.
