'Aerostats' Will Be Used For Surveillance

Lockheed Martin has won a $77.5 million contract to fabricate tethered blimps that will be used for surveillance in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Company representatives say the small blimps -- called "aerostats" -- can carry optical and infrared sensors, and communications gear, as high as 5,000 feet. Lockheed refers to the tethered blimps as Persistent Threat Detection Systems... a fitting name for the blimps that are, essentially, low-flying spy and telecommunications satellites.

Production on the aerostats has already started at Lockheed's plant in Akron, OH. The new order builds on the Army's original $1.6 million order placed in 2004.

"Aerostat surveillance systems give the Army the reliable and constant information and intelligence collection capability vital to protecting deployed personnel and high-value assets," said Ron Browning, Lockheed Martin airship business development director. "Our team is committed to completing the PTDS production and integration to field the systems as quickly as possible."

Lockheed isn't saying how many aerostats it will produce under this latest contract.

Aerostats are not a new technology. Lockheed says that over the past 80 years, the company has built and delivered 8,000 such blimps for military and commercial uses.

FMI: www.lockheedmartin.com