USAF Reportedly Plans Ops In "Near Space" This Year

The US Air Force is reportedly planning operations in "near space" -- altitudes above 65,000 feet -- that would include protecting convoys, discerning between good guys and bad, and boosting communications between the battlefield and the commanders managing it.

Later this month, part of the near-space concept will be put to the test in the skies 60-70,000 feet over Phoenix, AZ. There, according to Lt. General Daniel Leaf, quoted by Reuters, the US will test a helium-filled lighter-than-air vehicle designed to boost communications without the aid of expensive satellites.

The vehicle, dubbed Combat SkySat Phase I, is designed specifically to increase the range of the Army's handheld PR-148 radios.

Next month, the USAF will begin trials on the "Near Space Maneuvering Vehicle." According to one description, the NSMV would "loiter between 100,000 and 120,000 feet in the region above fixed-wing aircraft and below low-earth orbit satellites. Currently this whole area of airspace simply isn’t used and yet a vehicle that could operate at this height would be free from attack by current aircraft, above the present generation of SAMS and clear of bad weather."

At this point, Leaf said there are no plans to arm any of these vehicles. He said there are several different options for creating a near-space surveillance vehicle, but any one of them is at least a decade away, according to the general.

FMI: www.af.mil