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.

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.

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.