Company Offering UAS For Security, Border Patrol Monitoring

Science Applications International Corporation announced Monday its Skybus 30K Airship UAS was recently granted a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) US Experimental Airworthiness Certificate for Unmanned Airships.

As lead system integrator under contract to Naval Air Systems Command, SAIC worked with Telford Aviation Services of Bangor, ME to develop and test the prototype at the Loring Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Test Center in Limestone, ME.

The prototype Skybus 30K, sporting 30,000 cubic-foot volume, is the initial testing and demonstration platform for a series of large airships. The Skybus 30K has a 300-pound payload and can serve as a platform to carry sensors used for a variety of security and intelligence operations including border patrol, port security, survivor search, wildlife management and sports event monitoring.

The airframe is resilient to damage and includes a Lighter Than Air Unmanned Aerial System (LTA-UAS); ground control station for mission planning, flight monitoring, and in-flight profile amendment; and a mobile mooring system that allows the Skybus 30K to launch from confined or unimproved sites.

The Skybus can loiter for 30 to 40 hours, can travel up to 35 knots... and has faint visual, radar, infrared, and acoustic signatures.

Other program team members include: Aerospace Innovations, responsible for Lighter Than Air (LTA) systems control; DRS - Unmanned Technologies, responsible for vehicle flight controls; Lindstrand USA, responsible for the vehicle primary envelop and flight structure; and Loring Development Activity, which served as the program's flight test facility.

SAIC provides scientific, engineering, systems integration and technical services and solutions to all branches of the US military, agencies of the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the US Department of Homeland Security and other US Government civil agencies, as well as to customers in selected commercial markets.

FMI: www.saic.com