- Hallmark was started as a TCOM test and evaluation system
- This 53M system was installed in the Bahamas and the location was called the Bahamas Evaluation, Test and Assembly or BETA site
- The first TCOM aerostat system to utilize a three point, weather-vaning mooring system which allowed for safe and efficient aerostat launch, flight, recovery and moored operations
- BETA provided network color TV broadcast and long range channel wideband microwave link plus VHF omnidirectional maritime communications
- The test site proved to be a success and eventually in the late 1970’s the 53M was replaced with a 67M (the M represents the approximate length of the aerostat in meters
- In the early 1980’s, this test site was transformed into the U.S. Coast Guard LASS (Low Altitude Surveillance System) that used a radar payload to search for drug smuggling into the U.S.
Hallmark was started as a TCOM test and evaluation system shortly after TCOM was formed to demonstrate TV and FM broadcasting equipment as well as test other electronic payloads such as radio repeaters and microwave relays for communication. Hallmark consisted of a 53M aerostat system which was at the time called a 250K with the number representing the approximate aerostat hull volume measured in cubic feet.
Hallmark was installed in the Bahamas near the middle of Grand Bahamas Island near a small town called High Rock and this location was called the Bahamas Evaluation, Test and Assembly or BETA site. This system used airborne Wankel engine generators (gasoline fueled) to supply power to the aerostat and the tether was a Dacron cable called Nolaro which was short for “no-lay-rope”. This tether did not carry power nor fiber-optic signals. Also this first TCOM aerostat system utilized a three point, weathervaning mooring system which allowed for safe and efficient aerostat launch, flight, recovery and moored operations. TCOM continues to use this same mooring system concept for all aerostat systems delivered today.
In the late 1970’s, the 53M (250K) aerostat was replaced with TCOM’s next generation aerostat system (called the 365K at the time and would be considered a 67M with today’s model number convention where the M would represent the approximate length of the aerostat in meters) and testing/evaluation of this new, larger aerostat continued.
In the early 1980’s, this same Bahamas test site would be transformed into the U.S. Coast Guard’s LASS (Low Altitude Surveillance System) that used a radar payload to search for drug smugglers bringing illegal drugs into the U.S. The first anti-drug aerostat went operational in 1985 at High Rock Grand Bahama Island. The second site was built at Fort Huachuca, Arizona in 1986 which was later named a TARS site. Customs began seeking proposal requests from contractors for these balloons in 1987. Overall responsibility for the program fell to Customs and the Coast Guard, until congressional language in 1991 and 1992 transferred management to the Defense Department, with the Air Force as executive agent.