Matthew Nelson
Drone Aviation has begun to update a U.S. Army-owned tactical aerostat platform with a new technology designed to secure communication waveforms that soldiers use to connect during battlefield missions.
The company said Thursday it will perform updates for the Winch Aerostat Small Platform to incorporate modern communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment via a payload integration system.
WASP is built to transmit video and extend wireless communication range while being towed or operating in a stationary position. The platform can soar at an altitude of up to 1.5K feet to support ISR operations in remote locations.
The Army's WASPs were used in soldier training sessions, Department of Defense exercises and customer operations.
The mobile balloon-borne system works to also support multimission profiles in ground and aerial-based assets by retransmitting communications.
