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By Brandon Pollachek, PEO IEW&S Public Affairs
High above the desert floor of Yuma Proving Ground, AZ, an aerostat keeps watch over a compound in which simulated terrorist activities are taking place. At the same time decision makers in Europe are viewing activities in real-time and in-turn providing orders to local quick reaction forces on how to respond.
This scenario, which played out last month was part of Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors’ (PEO IEW&S) participation in the NATO Unified Vison 18 (UV 18) trial.
PEO IEW&S supported the trial with the use of a Persistent Surveillance System — Tethered (PSS-T) Large that was capturing full motion video and disseminating to decision makers in Germany and the Netherlands. PSS-T Large is an aerostat platform that is utilized for information collection, force protection enhancement, and as a platform for Army Aerial Layer Network Transport. Additionally, biometric systems were also incorporated to demonstrate an ability to track the identification of potential foes.
Unified Vision is a bi-annual trial, which serves as are the premier NATO event at which Allies trial Joint Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) activities. UV18 tested Joint ISR techniques deployed in a wide variety of geographical areas across NATO territory, focusing on challenges ranging from conventional threats to the Fight against Terrorism.
The PSS-T served as an “eyes in the sky” asset for the trial demonstrating an ability it has proven in Afghanistan, Iraq and other operating environments to provide a persistent stare capability for immediate situational awareness as well as a valuable tool for forensic backtracking. During the trial the communications capability on the aerostat was utilized to quickly disseminate both the surveillance data collected by the system’s sensors as well as the biometric data obtained on the ground.
UV18 utilized the latest technology available in order to merge intelligence feeds and exploit raw data into intelligence for decision-makers. PSS-T was selected for participation in the trial due to the robust set of options it can provide.
“The technology on the aerostat allows us to provide a 360 degree surveillance capability with a multitude of sensor choices depending on the need of the units within the area of responsibility,” said Quang Ho, Product Manager Aerostats System Engineer. “The flexibility of the system is a key enabler as it can be utilized in virtually any environment that we conduct operations across the globe.”
The lessons identified, learned and adopted from UV18 will help to enhance intelligence efforts for NATO leaders, in support of future NATO operations.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]