In today’s conjuncture, the terrorist activities are the most compelling issue for the defence forces in maintaining homeland security. Especially, the terrorist elements that penetrate the homeland may give harm. This harm can be minimized by preventing the terrorist penetrations from homeland borders. In counter terrorism, having Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability and using this capability by twenty four hours is deterrence for the terrorist groups. Aerostats emerge as the ideal platform which can provide this capability. Aerostats are unmanned and aerodynamically shaped balloons that are stayed in the air, fixed to the ground by steel cable(s). The aerostat is made of a large fabric envelope that is filled with nonflammable helium gas, which provides the lifting force. The cables also serve to supply the electrical power to the aerostat systems, and for data relay between the aerostat and the ground station. Aerostats are different from the other manned and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) because of aerostats’ capabilities such as cost effectiveness, long endurance and high resolution image transmission. Especially having uninterrupted image transmission and surveillance capabilities is important to be advantageous in counter terrorism. In this article, a short definition of terrorism has been given and then the importance of ensuring the homeland border security has been emphasized in counter terrorism. In addition, the questions of “what are the technical capabilities, the usage areas and the purposes of aerostats?” will be introduced as a result of literature review. Finally the strengths and weaknesses of aerostats, opportunities and threats for the near future will be introduced by using “SWOT” analysis method.

Date Published: 6 June 2013
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 8711, Sensors, and Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I) Technologies for Homeland Security and Homeland Defense XII, 87110E (6 June 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2015537

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8711:
Sensors, and Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I) Technologies for Homeland Security and Homeland Defense XII
Edward M. Carapezza, Editor(s)