Photo courtesy Stark Aerospace.

by Scott Kesselman



Stark Aerospace, with sponsorship by the Combatting Terrorism Technical Support Office, introduced the HoverLite aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system. 



The tethered unit can reach a maximum height of 165 feet in about 15 seconds and is intended to support the military, homeland security, civilian missions for pop-up surveillance, border patrol, crowd monitoring and emergency rapid response missions, according to a company press release.



The tether supplies the system with power and allows for bidirectional signaling between the platform and its sensors. It can carry a payload up to over 13 pounds and can be deployed swiftly off of small platforms such as pickup trucks, ATVs, unmanned ground vehicles and boats.



“We are excited to offer this new capability to the ISR market,” says Chairman and CEO of Stark Robert Foglesong. “The HoverLite serves a huge gap in fast reaction 360-degree situational awareness.”