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TCOM offers the world’s largest selection of proven aerostat solutions that counter the tactical, operational and strategic threats faced by our customer-nations.
End-to-end systems engineered for any environment.
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We provide our customers with innovation, responsiveness and best value by leveraging our advanced technology, skilled workforce and over 40 years of proven experience.
TCOM advancements continue to define the industry.
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TCOM is the proven global leader for innovative, cost-effective Airborne Persistent Surveillance solutions protecting national security in the world’s most demanding operational environments.
TCOM aerostat systems are Soldiers of the Skies.
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Expanding airborne persistent surveillance horizons efficiently and economically, TCOM systems detect potential threats by air, over land, and by sea, providing actionable intelligence in a timely manner.
TCOM makes persistent surveillance affordable.
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Tactical, Operational and Strategic Solutions Designed to Meet Any Mission
Maintaining continuous aerial security is a daunting task. Threats such as low-flying, extremely fast aircraft can take advantage of the earth’s curvature and exploit terrain obstructions. This renders ground-based radars unable to provide target information in time to take appropriate action. Slow, low flying missiles with a small cross section may also avoid early detection and pose a significant threat. Manned aerial surveillance can decrease the risk for short periods of heightened alert, but the operational costs are much too high for extended use. To meet this airborne coverage challenge effectively and inexpensively, TCOM developed the 71M Low Altitude Surveillance System. With over 1,000,000 hours of operation these systems are the only operational airborne defense assets to routinely provide the continuous round-the-clock, low altitude target detection information needed to secure the skies.
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Case Study: RAID
Under the darkness of night in Iraq and out of range of ground-based sentries, enemy fighters were able to creep in undetected toward forward operating bases (FOB) and posts where U.S. forces were deployed. Intent on launching mortar attacks or implanting explosive devices designed to disrupt operations and kill U.S. soldiers, they posed a deadly and pervasive threat. The U.S. military needed a reliable surveillance system that could foresee impending danger and give military commanders the actionable intelligence needed to prevent and intercept attacks.
To counter this threat, the U.S. military turned to trusted partner TCOM to provide tethered aerostat systems that delivered persistent surveillance and communications needed to detect and neutralize the attackers before they could carry out their missions. The first use of tethered aerostats in this application came under the innovative RAID (Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment) program. RAID made use of the TCOM 17M tactical aerostat to carry electro/optical and infrared payloads to gather intelligence around the clock and communications payloads to provide accurate surveillance information in real time.
RAID utilized EO/IR sensors, radar and flash and acoustic gunshot detectors to provide persistent, panoramic surveillance of the covered areas, providing timely warning of potential threats and other valued intelligence. Combined with the surveillance towers (G-BOSS), the aerostat systems provided essential situational awareness necessary for improved security and daily operations in and around the FOB.
The RAID program was so successful that many more 17M tactical aerostats were soon pressed into action across forward operating bases throughout Iraq. Since its initial deployment in 2003, over 60 aerostat systems and more than 300 RAID systems have been deployed as part of the Persistent Surveillance and Dissemination Systems (PSDS2) currently in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. This program has been credited with saving many lives and has also led to the development of the TCOM 22M and 28M operational aerostat systems for use in Iraq and Afghanistan where challenging operational environments required larger platforms. Most importantly, RAID established the value of the tethered aerostats to support U.S. Military on the battlefield and has led to the unprecedented use of aerostats in to support and enhance U.S. military operations worldwide.
Case Study: Italy
During the Bosnian Conflict, Italian Security Forces were faced with the problem of stopping the flow of illegal immigrants and contraband that was frequently being smuggled from the Balkans, across the Otranto Strait, then inland from the Italian coast. Smugglers used compact, quick moving small boats and rafts. The use of Italian Navy ships to patrol the straits and detect and apprehend these smugglers was far too costly and inefficient.
Italy turned to TCOM, a global leader in aerostat-borne surveillance solutions, to deliver an affordable, persistent sea surveillance system that would provide comprehensive monitoring of the Otranto Strait and Italian coastline. The system, identified as SAACS (South Adriatic Aerostat Coastal Surveillance System), used a TCOM medium-sized aerostat configured with a multi-mode search radar, a stabilized day/night camera suite and a V/UHF transceiver. The radar provided the early long-range detection and tracking of the small targets and cued the camera to provide timely actionable intelligence which was transmitted to remotely-located Navy command and control centers, and to Navy Patrol Ships nearby.
TCOM’s SAACS provided total domain awareness, which enabled Italian Government law enforcement officials to be waiting on shore to apprehend the immigrants as they waded in from the small vessels. The aerostat-borne persistent sea surveillance system also provided the Italian Navy with the information that allowed them to efficiently apprehend the smugglers on their return trip to the Balkans. This challenging mission was accomplished for a fraction of the cost of naval operations, or manned airborne surveillance. TCOM’s affordable persistent sea surveillance system became a critical component to Italian maritime defense. Today, TCOM mid-size aerostat systems continue to provide affordable round-the-clock coastal protection in trouble spots worldwide.
Case Study: Kuwait
During the months preceding the first Gulf War, Kuwaiti security forces were faced with unique surveillance challenges. Forces needed to maintain awareness of activities along the interior border with Iraq, along the coast of the Persian Gulf, as well as in the surrounding airspace. Without total domain awareness, the nation was particularly vulnerable to attack.
The Kuwaiti government turned to TCOM, the leader in persistent airborne surveillance, to solve the border surveillance issues using an aerostat system. Just two months after becoming operational, a TCOM LASS (Low Altitude Surveillance System) provided vital early warning of the Iraqi invasion that allowed the Kuwaiti Royal Family to escape. The TCOM 71M Aerostat system had been operating continuously at high altitude for 6 days when, in the very early hours after midnight, its radar payload provided the first alert of Iraqi helicopter activity and mass crossing of Iraqi tanks across the Kuwaiti air and land borders.
A radar operator at the site was credited with alerting the Kuwaiti Air Force Officers of the impending invasion. This early warning allowed security forces to arrange the safe departure of the Emir and his family from Kuwait. TCOM employees at the LASS site continued to operate the system for four more hours during the invasion before safely fleeing the site.
Since the initial detection of invading Iraqi forces, TCOM aerostat surveillance systems have been an integral component to Kuwaiti border security programs. Currently, a TCOM 71M Aerostat system provides persistent surveillance along the Kuwaiti borders, simultaneously detecting and tracking low flying aircraft, surface vessels and ground movers. Ultimately, the Kuwaiti borders – and Kuwaiti citizens – are safer thanks to TCOM persistent surveillance systems.