"Gaining the high-ground" has been a problematic and costly objective for countless people spanning numerous industries, whether it's a military unit trying to keep it's people safe, a first responder searching for a lost child, to a prominent news or sporting channel delivering compelling news or sports broadcasts.
Everyone want's high ground to see or hear better, but most can't get access to it when and where they need it.
As an example, pre-dating Small Unmanned Aerial Systems’, lighter than air systems (LTAS for short) have been used. From hot air balloons, to large football shaped dirigibles (akin to the Goodyear Blimp) to the present day where tethered inflatable lighter than air systems (aerostats) demonstrate the benefits derived from airborne observation posts.
The constant challenges with these technologies are that the operating performance of these devices are highly susceptibile to atmospheric conditions. In order to compensate, the traditional approach has been to make the aerostats larger (e.g. larger cables) which results in costly and large footprints, in order to meet tactical needs in austere and harsh combat environments.
The emergence of Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (SUAS) resolved some problems with large aerostats, with exceptions. It is known that it is difficult and problematic for SUAS’ to deliver a stable, fixed point or slow moving elevated platform. SUAS craft are highly mobile and maneuverable, but because of their small size and limited thrust are also susceptible to atmospherics. SUAS technology requires qualified operators, constant flight management and monitoring. Other disadvantages to SUAS are their noise and limited dwell times. Operational limits and costs of SUAS are problematic, with accident rates of 100x that of manned aircraft, SUAS can create operational challenges for users and financial issues for program managers, particularly when maintaining an elevated / airborne observation post.
It is highly inefficient to use SUAS technologies in certain emergent applications for tactical users, such as providing persistent stare / persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) for fixed points or for slow moving mounted operations. Additional problems with SUAS technologies are vibration, speed over target and wind buffeting, which can and do negatively affect imagery quality or situational awareness. Much can occur during the time off target, or in the instance of weather moving in underneath the higher flying UAS to obscure or impede effective area imaging. Lastly, many restrictions exist to flying UAS, including no-fly zones near borders, urban areas and areas of high civilian or commercial aviation traffic.
Sofcoast, working in conjunction with end-user communities, academia and aerial system experts, have addressed these concerns and have designed and built a solution in response to these fundamental needs.
