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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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Sea Based Aerostats
Platforms
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.
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.
Training
Aerostat System Training to Ensure Mission Success
The most sophisticated and capable system cannot be used effectively if the individuals who operate and maintain it are not properly trained. Therefore, the TCOM Training Group provides aerostat system training to meet this need. The Training Group and Technical Documentation Group are integrally tied together as vital elements of the Integrated Logistics Support of our Aerostat Surveillance Systems wherever they are deployed.
Hands-On Experience, On-Site Instruction
One significant advantage of TCOM aerostat system training is the ability to use our Manufacturing and Flight Test Facility (MFTF) in Elizabeth City, NC, which provides excellent facilities for both classroom and hands-on training of customer personnel. The classroom training is based on material prepared by our experts in our Technical Documentation Group and can be shaped to meet unique customer requirements. The training prepares Flight Directors to fly and manage the aerostat system, and trains technicians to maintain all of the mechanical, electric and electronic equipment in the system. The technicians are also trained to assist in launch and recovery procedures.
The MFTF hangar is so large that trainees can actually fly our smaller aerostat systems inside without concern for adverse weather conditions. It also allows trainees to perform many hands-on activities on our larger systems. Additional on-the–job aerostat system training on these larger platforms is provided at the operational site location. OJT training for smaller systems can be accomplished right at the MTFT facility.
Proven History of Results
TCOM’s tried and proven training approach to aerostat system training has been an important contributor to our continuing success as the leading worldwide supplier of Aerostat Persistent Surveillance Systems. The TCOM training team has prepared military and civilian customer personnel from many diverse nations to keep TCOM Aerostat Surveillance Systems fulfilling their missions for decades.
Turnkey Installation
Support from Start to Finish
TCOM provides single point responsibility for the overall system performance and continuing aerostat support essential for the reliable and consistent performance of the Aerostat Surveillance System.
After the system has successfully completed all its formal testing at our Manufacturing and Flight Test Facility, it is shipped to the customer. TCOM’s Field Operations & Support (FOS) group, supported by TCOM’s headquarters design and systems engineering groups, provides the in-country expertise for on-site installation, on-the-job training and integration into existing networks.
The Turnkey Installation Solution Includes:
- Site survey, design and construction
- Installation of the aerostat subsystems that make up the aerostat system
- Integration of the aerostat system with the site infrastructure
- Payloads integration including providing connectivity with the customer’s command centers and data/communications network
- On-site formal classroom training and/or on-the-job-training (OJT)
- O&M support as required
- Logistics support to integrate spares and support equipment into a tracking database
Experienced Personnel Ensure Success
TCOM FOS pools of field engineers have trained and experienced personnel with the skillsets to supply a turnkey aerostat support solution from installation and checkout (I&CO) of the system to when the system is handed over to the customer for operation and maintenance (O&M). TCOM has installed aerostat systems in more countries than any other aerostat system manufacturer.
Manufacturing
Advanced Aerostat Manufacturing Facilities
TCOM produces the most advanced, state-of-the-art and reliable aerostat systems in the world. This is accomplished by having the latest aerostat manufacturing technology, equipment, facilities and tooling to bring our advanced designs to life. We offer capabilities and experience manufacturing aerostat and airship flex structures, mooring stations, avionics, tethers and ground support equipment.
Complete Systems Manufacturing
TCOM is the only LTA Company in the world that has a facility devoted to aerostat manufacturing, airship manufacturing, assembly, flight test and training operations – all in a single location. We manufacture the world’s largest aerostats and are capable of manufacturing, inflating, rigging, and testing them all while protected from the weather inside our hangar. We also perform integration and flight testing onsite at our new flight pad. Our aerostats are manufactured using highly engineered, TCOM-designed base fabric. The fabrics are then seamed together using specialized equipment designed by TCOM for the sole purpose of building our flex structures. Once assembled, they are air inflated and tested, then inflated with helium. After helium inflation, the hardware and rigging is installed which prepares the aerostat for integration with the rest of the system.
Our new, state-of-the-art mooring station manufacturing facility is conveniently located adjacent to the hangar. All assembly and testing of the mooring stations is conducted in this central facility. Prior to integration with the aerostat and surveillance components, the mooring stations are passed through a rigorous acceptance procedure to ensure all functionality. Once the mooring structure, boom, tower, and other major portions are assembled together, integration of the machinery, electrical and hydraulic systems takes place. The system’s avionics are also designed and manufactured by TCOM in an environmentally controlled area located at the headquarters facility. After all the components are procured and inspected, material kits are put into the shop for assembly and unit testing. TCOM employs a highly trained and experienced staff dedicated to wiring all the electronic items for the aerostat, mooring system and ground station. In addition, we build swivel slip-rings and perform tether termination and break testing, and perform thermal cycling and stress testing.
Once all of the electronics components have passed unit test, they are assembled together as a functional system and fully tested against rigorous acceptance standards. If payloads are available, they can be integrated at the electronics manufacturing facility or later with the complete system at the hangar. After the aerostat, mooring system, and avionics subsystems are completed, they are integrated together at the new flight pad, located at the Manufacturing Flight and Test Facility. Flight tests then begin as the complete system functionality is tested.
Quality Assurance
The Elizabeth City aerostat Manufacturing and Flight Test Facility enables TCOM to provide customers with an unparalleled level of quality assurance, training, ongoing operations and field support services. This facility has become the East Coast hub for all airship maintenance and assembly activities. The ability of TCOM to manufacture complete systems, rather than just sub-assemblies, provides us the flexibility to change quickly when needed to accommodate our customers’ needs.
Design
Aerostat Design: Customized to Meet the Mission
Every security mission requires a unique set of sensors integrated onto a TCOM aerostat design to form a platform system that will meet the customer’s persistent Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) mission. At the heart of every TCOM Aerostat Surveillance system lies a proven design process that effectively blends customer needs and superior engineering to create the system that will meet all of the customer’s functional requirements in a cost-effective and reliable way. The aerostat design also ensures durability and performance for the life of the system.
Experience Enables Excellence
TCOM engineers begin the aerostat design process by gathering a full understanding of the customer’s surveillance mission and operational environment. Based on this understanding and years of expert knowledge and experience, the engineers select the ideal sensor suite that will be integrated onto the Aerostat. TCOM designs also take into account the required communications, power, EMI/RFI stabilization and heading reference systems to provide a high availability airborne surveillance system. Our engineers excel at designing the ground control station as well as the fiber-optic powered tether that carries data and command information from the aerostat to the ground station. TCOM promotes, encourages and supports design engineering in their quest for technical excellence and innovation by providing the analysis tools, state-of-the-art analysis software and test facilities to enable cost effective innovative solutions to challenging aerostat design requirements. In addition, processes and mechanisms are in place to spawn new initiatives and identify emerging technologies so that TCOM engineering is always ahead of the technical curve.
Comprehensive Expertise
TCOM’s Engineering Design group boasts an experienced staff of experts in civil, mechanical, electrical and systems engineering, aerodynamics, analog and digital communications, tether design, airborne and ground power systems, hydraulics, meteorology, logistics, installation, training, field engineering, operations and other disciplines necessary for the implementation of full-scale turnkey aerostat design projects. At TCOM we don’t just engineer superior products – we engineer success.
Careers
Become a Member of the TCOM Team:
TCOM recruits and retains top talent from high-level positions in military, government, and technology sectors, expert engineers from top-ranked schools, and skilled technicians with proven experience. Our team of dedicated professionals consists of a diverse blend of innovators, designers, and support staff.
We offer an excellent benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, and a 401(k) retirement plan. In addition to a generous holiday and vacation schedule, the company has an established compressed workweek schedule in which all employees work a 9/80 schedule (80 hours worked in 9 days) which enables the company to close every other Friday.
TCOM truly values our employees. When you come to work for us, you become part of the TCOM family! We are steadily growing and hiring for several positions. If you are interested and/or know of someone who is interested in joining the TCOM team, please click here to view our job openings
TCOM, L.P.
7115 Thomas Edison Drive
Columbia, MD 21046
Columbia, MD 21046
Tel: (410) 312-2300
Facilities
Headquarters:
TCOM headquarters are strategically located in Columbia, MD, minutes from government offices and decision makers in Washington, DC, and mere miles from the Baltimore/Washington Airports and the Port of Baltimore. The modern facility houses the high-tech engineering and support laboratories, as well as the national and international marketing departments and administrative staff. In addition, the facility is home to the high-tech electronics lab, where the aerostat surveillance equipment and antennae arrays are tested and assembled before installation. The Columbia, MD facilities are home to a diverse staff of innovators and experts, all dedicated to providing aerostat persistent surveillance at the most affordable cost.
Manufacturing, Production and Test Facilities:
TCOM’s state-of-the-art manufacturing, production and testing facilities are nestled into a picturesque valley across 225 acres just outside Elizabeth City, NC. The main hangar is a massive 300,000 square foot metal structure that can accommodate vehicles up to 150 feet in height. This 1000 foot long hangar is home to nearly all manufacturing and testing for the entire line of TCOM aerostat balloons. At full capacity, the hangar can accommodate up to six fully-inflated 71-meter aerostats. Within the hangar, a separate, environmentally controlled “clean room” is devoted to the fabrication of individual sections of the larger aerostat hulls, and to the assembly of the smaller models.
Adjacent to the hangar complex is the ground systems manufacturing facility. This newly completed 40,000 square foot building houses two 300 foot long bays along with heavy-duty overhead cranes to lift and rotate components during construction. The assembly, testing and integration of all ground winches and mooring systems takes place within the ground systems building. The addition of this new facility is a result of TCOM’s continued growth and commitment to innovation. A 28,000 square foot Integrated Logistics Support facility is located next to ground systems building.
TCOM also maintains a separate 24,000 square foot aerostat production facility approximately 7 miles from the main campus. This secondary facility focuses on the manufacturing and testing of smaller aerostats and mooring systems, and offers the logistical convenience of railroad access. In each of TCOM’s facilities, the highest levels of security and quality assurance are always enforced.
Thanks to the unique nature of TCOM’s manufacturing equipment, cutting-edge technologies, and expert engineers, the Elizabeth City facilities have become the central East Coast hub for all commercial aerostat and airship maintenance and assembly activities.
Pioneering Achievements
A Legacy of Aerostat Innovation:
The name TCOM is synonymous with the aerostat and with airborne persistent surveillance. Over the past 40 years, TCOM engineers have introduced countless innovations including advanced materials, clean room construction, modern payload integration techniques, reliable ground based power systems and simplified ground control equipment. Our ongoing advancements continue to revolutionize LTA system design and manufacturing techniques. TCOM aerostats are the standard to which all others aspire. Here are just a few reasons why:
Pioneering Achievements:
- First to use laminate materials for aerostat fabrics
- First fiber-optic powered tether system
- First tether to double as LF communications antenna
- First aerostat provider to offer customized payloads and mooring systems
- First lightning protection systems for tethered aerostats
- First fully integrated modular mooring system
- First modern aerostat system to broadcast radio and TV
- First aerostat to carry electronic payloads for US-allied foreign nations
- First sea-based aerostat system
- First aerostat system to remain deployed for missions of 30 days or longer
- First aerostat in theater supporting both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
- First and only company to deploy an aerostat at an altitude of 20,000 feet above ground station
- Produced largest aerostat ever in operation
- Longest ongoing aerostat surveillance operations
Tradition of Performance:
From the shores of the Adriatic to the glaciers of the Arctic, from conflict zones of the Middle East to the border regions of the United States, TCOM airborne persistent surveillance solutions provide actionable intelligence from an elevated perspective. Our surveillance systems have served as vital components in applications as disparate as television and radio broadcasting, drug traffic interdiction, illegal immigration prevention, communications intelligence, air defense surveillance, electronic intelligence, troop and vehicle monitoring, and insurgent detection.
TCOM persistent surveillance systems can be customized for deployment over air, land or sea. The complete systems provide total domain awareness, improving mission effectiveness and efficiency. In every environment, TCOM systems provide mission-critical details in time for decision makers to take appropriate action.