Developmental High Scout Technology Passes the Test

  • Published
  • By Eva Blaylock
  • Space Vehicles Directorate
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  AFRL conducted successful integration test of a developmental high-altitude technology known as High Scout, a combined unmanned air vehicle/airship configuration. The test involved inflating the contractor-built, 130 ft long and 40 ft diameter airship with helium to simulate stationkeeping at 65,000 ft. Crews adjusted the inflated airship's rigging, as well as the control gain for its rudders and elevators, and then attached a propulsion pod in order to test the high-altitude propellers. Next, they joined the UAV--which has a 10 ft wingspan and can carry a 20 lb payload--to the airship/propulsion pod assembly, subsequently adjusting the center of gravity for the entire system prior to testing.

AFRL's Phillips Technology Institute and Space Vehicles Directoratebased Balloon Group performed the integration testing. The High Scout program represents a collaboration with US Special Operations Command, Air Force Space Command, the Army Space and Missile Defense Center and Army McGregor Test Range, and industry partners Aerostar and ArcturusUAV. The program's goal is to use either a balloon or an airship to float a tactical, UAV-carried payload (suspended below the balloon or airship configuration) over a target. Upon mission completion, accomplished either in float mode or via UAV detachment, the UAV returns the payload to a preprogrammed landing site.

Comparably devised payload configurations lose both the balloon and the payload after mission completion. The High Scout advantage lies in the safe retrieval, and ultimate reuse, of the high-value payload. While High Scout has undergone tests conducted with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and tactical repeater payloads, its primary command and control mechanism is an Iridium satellite link with long-range line-of-sight backup. Program Phases I and II culminated in 12 successful sorties, 8 of which commenced from 65,000 ft. The final portion of this three-phase experiment will employ two double-hulled airships, each built with an inexpensive commercial fabric, to test loiter and return operations from altitudes of 65,000 ft and for extended periods, entailing days or even weeks. Potential applications of this technology range from ISR missions to broadcasting and similar commercial endeavors.