The Lightweight Aerostat System includes a Carrier and a 35 cubic meter (1235 cubic feet) Helikite aerostat. The CUV built Carrier is a trailer with helium tanks, winch and launch equipment for the Helikite. It mounts all the handling equipment in one small trailer towed by a HMMWV, SUV or pickup truck. Many comparable aerostat handling systems are several times as large, and require multiple trucks for carriage. The Carrier is highly mobile on and off-road, and is transportable by a C-130.

The Helikite, supplied by Allsopp Helikites Ltd. of Great Britain, has lifting surfaces that generate aerodynamic lift to support the blimp in winds which drive traditional designs into the ground by wind drag. LAS can be launched in 35 mph winds and continue operations in 50 mph wind. With the Helikite, LAS can be made smaller than traditional aerostat systems yet still operate in much higher winds, improving mobility, mission utility and capability in adverse weather. Versions of LAS are suitable for surveillance / security, communications relay and research missions for Defense and Homeland Security missions. It operates for weeks at a time at a fraction of the cost of comparable aircraft or Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV). LAS requires only two technicians, not highly trained pilots or UAV operators. It is readily operated in FAA controlled airspace, unlike most UAVs.

CUV has previously delivered versions of LAS to the USAF 46thTest Wing for flight test telemetry relay, and to Sandia National Laboratories, in support to the Department of Energy nuclear security mission.