25.09.2025
Modern missile defence relies on one critical factor: time. The earlier a threat is detected, the more options exist to track, assess, and intercept it. Persistent surveillance provides that early warning - extending radar horizons and improving the responsiveness of missile defence systems. Elevated sensors are an essential part of this network, enabling forces to detect threats well before they reach defended airspace.
Current surveillance methods
Current elevated sensor systems provide continuous coverage and extended range, but they often come with operational constraints. Fixed locations can make deployment predictable and limit flexibility. Many systems require substantial ground infrastructure and support personnel, increasing operational footprint. Severe weather can disrupt operations, and redeployment to address shifting threat patterns is slow and resource-intensive. Existing fixed-wing radar platforms are very resource-intensive to operate 24/7 because their limited endurance demands multiple platforms and crews to maintain coverage.
Better adaptability is required
Emerging threats demand more adaptable solutions. Untethered, long-endurance airborne platforms can provide persistent surveillance while offering the flexibility to reposition rapidly as operational needs change. By removing limitations on location and mobility, forces can extend coverage into new areas, avoid predictable patterns, and deploy surveillance capability to previously inaccessible locations.
Where Airlander fits in
Airlander offers an alternative with the endurance to remain on station for multiple days, carrying sensor packages equivalent to or exceeding those deployed on aerostats, and with the ability to directly link to command centre networks for streamlined communications. Free from the requirement for fixed infrastructure or a permanent ground support crew, Airlander can operate from austere environments, including unprepared surfaces, and redeploy to meet emerging threats in hours rather than days. Its hybrid lift design allows for station-keeping at altitude with minimal fuel burn, supporting sustained, cost-effective surveillance operations. Airlander can be operated with a crew onboard or in an unmanned configuration, allowing missions to take advantage of extended endurance while still offering the option of direct human oversight when required.
Within a missile defence network, Airlander can act as a mobile elevated sensor platform, extending radar horizons, increasing warning times, and allowing coverage to be reallocated in response to the movement of adversary missile systems. Its quiet operation and resilience to damage enhance survivability, ensuring continued operation even in contested environments. Alongside its sensor payloads, Airlander can deploy UAVs to extend coverage and improve detection of emerging threats.
Persistent surveillance assets must evolve
As missile threats become faster, more manoeuvrable, and harder to detect, persistent surveillance assets must evolve to match. Mobile, long-endurance platforms such as Airlander provide the persistence of existing aerostat systems with the operational flexibility needed to counter modern threats, helping ensure that missile defence systems have the time and information they need to protect forces and assets.