Army seeks hand-launched aerostats for squad intell

The Army's Rapid Equipping Force has issued a request for information for small hand-launched aerostats that would give infantry squads another method to perform reconnaissance in their immediate areas of operations, reports Paul McLeary at Aviation Week's Ares Blog.

The RFI calls for commercial off-the-shelf, or government off-the-shelf, technology that would consist of a "modular compact helium filled aerostat and payload deployment system" that would give "small tactical units...an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability."

The solicitation calls for models that can fly in any type of weather, during day or night, and be able to stay airborne for a minimum of four days.