High Altitude Balloons for Special Operations Forces: Supplementing Space with Stratospheric Solutions
Abstract
The U.S. military depends on space-based technology for communication, remote sensing, and position, navigation, and timing (PNT). Changing international dynamics in Great Power Competition, specifically the increase in antisatellite testing and development, threaten the space-based capabilities military forces utilize, including Special Operations Forces. In 2006, the Department of Defense developed the Operationally Responsive Space initiative which focused on decreasing the requisite time to place military satellites in orbit following asset loss; however, there is still no way to rapidly reconstitute space-based capabilities that have been compromised. As the space domain becomes increasingly contested, high altitude balloons (HABs) can offer a quick and efficient method to bridge the time gap between the loss of a space as set and its replacement. However, HABs require modularity to improve the time efficiency of payload integration. The purpose of this study is to develop a modular HAB bus, termed the Bento Box, designed to operate independently or integrated in a fixed-wing marsupial vehicle for precision recovery. The integration of three payloads into the Bento Box demonstrates the modularity of the structure, one of which is a software defined radio reconfigured as a bent-pipe communications payload to relay video transmission signals. The study concludes with a field test of the HAB-suspended Bento Box for beyond line-of-sight video relay between maneuver elements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1150988
Entities
People
- James E. Hansen
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School