MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- ATK of Minnesota has been contracted by Lockheed Martin to supply a thermal control subsystem for DARPA's ISIS airship.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Integrated Sensor Is Structure airship is a giant dirigible that will monitor ground activity from an altitude of as much as 65,000 feet.
Lockheed Martin leads an industry team in the development of an airship-based autonomous unmanned sensor with unique capabilities to track ground and air targets.
"This award is a strategic win for ATK because it marks our first thermal award in this high-altitude, near-space defense market," said Tom Wilson, vice president and general manager, ATK Spacecraft Systems and Services.
"We are a world leader in the design and production of heat transport devices with the corporate commitment and resources to deliver top-quality hardware on schedule."
ATK said the scope of work to be performed on the ISIS program includes designing, developing, building and testing hardware that performs heat acquisition, heat transport and heat rejection for two complete thermal systems.
The baseline design for both systems is a pumped, two-phase fluid loop that interfaces with large, lightweight radiator panels attached to the vehicle power bay.
Work on the contract will be performed at ATK's Beltsville, Md., facility.
ATK designs and produces market-leading integrated thermal control systems for military, intelligence, commercial, civil and international customers.
