The Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) [1] is an American low-level airborne ground surveillance system that uses aerostats (moored balloons) as radar platforms. Similar systems include the EL/M-2083 and JLENS .

TCOM’s 12M aerostat system is the most compact and portable solution of its kind available today. The 12M offers rapid deployment and retrieval, enabling operators in the field to obtain actionable surveillance data faster than ever before.

aerostat system supports the automated interoperability between tactical/theater surveillance assets and the dissemination of threat data to operational forces to aid interdiction of hostile fires and unconventional threats. The 74K aerostat system leverages a wide-area, secure communications backbone for the integration of threat reporting from

Airships, balloons, and blimps generate buoyancy lift or aerostatic lift using an envelope filled with a less dense gas than air, such as helium, enabling them to fly freely and “float” without needing forward airspeed. Such aircraft have been collectively called “airships” or “aerostats.”

An aerostat (from Ancient Greek ἀήρ (aḗr) 'air' and στατός (statós) 'standing', via French) or lighter-than-air aircraft is an aircraft that relies on buoyancy to maintain flight. Aerostats include unpowered balloons (free-flying or tethered) and powered airships.

The unusual-looking ships—helium-filled aircraft called aerostats—rose to an altitude of 15,000 feet and floated quietly in the sky, each secured to a ground-based mooring system by long tethers. Insurgents on the ground were perplexed by what they saw.

A tethered aerostat system requires a number of components to be fully operational. The key component is a balloon filled with lighter-than-air gas that enables the system to take flight and

The aerostat system lifts a 1,200 pound payload to operating altitude for low-level radar coverage. The aerostat consists of four major parts or assemblies: the hull, the windscreen and radar platform, the airborne power generator, and the rigging and tether assembly.

Tethered aerostats are unmanned non-rigid lighter-than-air vehicles (a.k.a. blimps), which remain anchored to the ground by one or more ropes. They are used for various surveillance tasks, where a low-cost long-endurance (up to a month) stationary aerial platform is needed.

TCOM’s 71M aerostat system is a versatile wide-area persistent surveillance solution. U.S. Military and allied forces rely on the 71M as an integral component of missile and air defense systems. Strategic Class payloads may include long-range radar, active and passive communications