LIGHTWEIGHT AEROSTAT SYSTEM (LAS) A New Communications Relay and Surveillance Capability For Law Enforcement and Homeland Security

1.0 BACKGROUND The Coast Guard and Border Patrol need overhead EO/IR surveillance of outdoor
venues, VIP events, border crossings, seaports, airports, etc. that is both less costly and intrusive than
helicopters, while providing around the clock coverage. Law enforcement and emergency response
agencies need a low cost, responsive, and mobile equipment for wide area resilient and durable
communications after a natural disaster, major accident, or terrorist act that degraded existing
communications systems. Aircraft or Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are expensive and have limited
endurance. Mobile towers are height limited and provided only short range coverage.
The most efficient means of meeting both these requirement is a low cost, mobile aerostat system.
However, traditional aerostats are large, manpower intensive and cannot operate in adverse weather
conditions. This has limited their use to a few fixed sites flying large aerostats. Carolina Unmanned
Vehicles (CUV) has developed the Lightweight Aerostat System (LAS), a solution that removes these
limitations, resulting in a small, mobile and very cost effective system.

1.1 LAS Concept The Lightweight Aerostat System (LAS) consists of a small specially designed tethered
blimp, called a Helikite, mounted on a trailer Carrier (Fig. 1). The LAS blimp can be flown at several
hundred to thousand feet altitude to provide coverage 24 hours a day for a week or more without
maintenance or downtime. Operating and maintenance cost is a fraction of the cost of using aircraft or
UAS to lift the surveillance or relay payloads. It does not require the complicated flight clearances
needed for UAS operations in civil airspace. LAS can elevate a communications relay payload up to
4000 feet, providing extended communication coverage out to 60 or more miles from its location, or a
circle 120 miles in diameter. Surveillance versions at 500 feet can cover a radius of 15 to 20 miles,
depending upon terrain, while minimizing blind spots caused by trees, hills and buildings.
LAS consists of several unique components that, taken together, comprise a system far smaller and more
versatile than any comparable unit. The patented Helikite combines aspects of kites and blimps to operate
in much higher winds than traditional aerostat designs, improving system utility and capability in adverse
weather. LAS is very mobile and cost-effective through use of unique designs to reduce the need for
ground crews to handle the blimp during launch and recovery. It is carried by a single trailer and operated
by a two person crew. A small truck can tow the complete system. Prototype military and civilian
security systems with communications and camera payloads have been delivered.