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AUVSI: Lockheed Martin HALE-D set for 2011 test flight
Lockheed Martin is to conduct the maiden flight of its High Altitude Long Endurance- Demonstrator (HALE-D) in the middle of next year, company officials have told Unmanned Vehicles.
Speaking to UV at AUVSI North America on 25 August, Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors business development director Ron Browning, said HALE-D was expected to fly its 'validation' flight with communications relay and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance payloads. It is understood to have an all-up weight of less than 100 lbs and can operate at an altitude of 65,000 ft, he added. HALE-D is part of the US Army's Space and Missile Defense Command's High Altitude Airship programme.
Meanwhile, Browning revealed that 37 of Lockheed Martin's Persistent Threat Detection Systems (PTDS) were currently operational in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unable to comment on various operational locations, Browning confirmed that a number were being used in Kabul as well as forward-operating bases (FOBs) in support of coalition forces.
Carrying between 500 and 1,000 lbs in electro-optical/infrared payloads, including L-3 Wescam's MX-20, Browning said the tethered system was conducting a range of missions '24/7' from 'unprepared' FOBs. Locations also include control and maintenance shelters and a mobile monitoring system.
Operating at altitudes between 1,000 and 5,000 ft, PTDS is being used for convoy and force protection, counter-improvised explosive device taskings as well as support of 'troops in contact', he added. This, he said, included provision of full motion video down to US Army Brigade Combat Teams.
Looking ahead, Browning said future undertakings for PTDS could include 'forensics examination and tracking of squirters' or escaping combatants as well as untethered and long endurance systems.
By Andrew White, Denver
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