Telford to work on MARSS for Skybus 30K

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army is pushing ahead with its plans to develop and deploy unmanned robot surveillance airships.

The U.S. Department of Defense announced Wednesday that Telford Aviation in Dothan, Ala., was awarded on Aug. 13 an $11,195,164 time and materials contract for operational support for Medium Airborne Reconnaissance Surveillance Systems.

"Work will be performed in Dothan, Ala., and is expected to be completed by April 30, 2008. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on July 17, 2007. The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Fort Monmouth, N.J., is the contracting activity -- W15P7T-07-C-W009," the Pentagon said.

As previously reported by UPI, the Science Applications International Corp. describes the prototype Skybus 30K, with its 30,000 cubic-foot volume, as being "the initial testing and demonstration platform for a series of large airships."

"The Skybus 30K has a 300 pound payload and can serve as a platform to carry sensors used for a variety of security and intelligence operations including border patrol, port security, survivor search, wildlife management and sports event monitoring," SAIC said.

SAIC said Skybus's airframe was "resilient to damage and includes a Lighter Than Air Unmanned Aerial System -- LTA-UAS; ground control station for mission planning, flight monitoring, and in-flight profile amendment; and a mobile mooring system that allows the Skybus 30K to launch from confined or unimproved sites."

"The Skybus can loiter for 30 to 40 hours, can travel up to 35 knots, and has faint visual, radar, infrared, and acoustic signatures," the company said.

SAIC said the Skybus project was also developed with Aerospace Innovations, responsible for Lighter Than Air, or LTA, systems control; DRS-Unmanned Technologies, responsible for vehicle flight controls; Lindstrand USA, responsible for the vehicle primary envelop and flight structure; and Loring Development Activity, which functioned as the program's flight test facility.