Angeline Leishman
A Raven Industries subsidiary was tasked by the Defense Innovation Unit to demonstrate the use of stratospheric balloons to enhance warfighter’s situational awareness at the tactical edge.
Under the DIU contract, the Thunderhead Balloon Systems of Raven Aerostar will carry prototype communications nodes to try to connect units and integrated payloads for airborne data collection during flight tests, the company said Monday.
A Thunderhead unit is designed to allow users to equip it with multiple sensors, payloads and other technologies that, according to the company, could help the Department of Defense collect large amounts of data for situational awareness.
Results of the demonstration is intended to help the DIU determine whether the Raven balloon can be used for military operations.
The project is in line with the DIU’s goal of fielding and scaling commercial technologies to support military personnel.
