Airship for ISR, comms to be provided to European consortium
NewsMarch 10, 2023
CANNES, France. Thales Alenia Space has won a €43 million ($46 million) contract for the EuroHAPS (High-Altitude Platform Systems) demonstration project to design a stratospheric platform for a European consortium of 21 partners, 18 subcontractors, and 11 countries, the company said in a statement.
EuroHAPS is aimed at developing several stratospheric demonstrators for communications as well as intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, the statement reads.
Thales Alenia Space will provide the solar-powered airship Stratobus, which is designed for long-endurance, large-payload missions. Also being provided to the consortium are the Hybrid High Altitude Airship (HHAA or tactical HAPS) from CIRA and the Autonomous Stratospheric Balloon System (ASBaS) from ESG and TAO.
"These platforms will test a range of missions, including lidar observation to detect and classify targets at sea or on land, and for the latter the ability to detect them in environments with vegetation cover," the statement reads. "COMmunications intelligence (COMINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT) missions will also be tested, as well as a meshed broadband communications network for air and land players."
