StratCom International, Inc.
StratCom International, Inc. is headed by Lieutenant General (USAF, Ret.) James Alan Abrahamson.
NOTE: The internet search for StratCom International provides links about both StratCom International Inc. and LLC. The information for both appears to be the same. However, one search found "Florida-based" StratCom International LLC". This was the only finding for a Florida connection, although proximity to NASA at the Kennedy Space Center is logical.[1]
Neither a direct web site link for StatCom International, Inc. or StratCom International LLC was located.
Also, the StratCom Group is a division of StratCom International, Inc.
US markets airships to India, Habib Beary In Bangalore, July 17, 2003:
- Mr Abrahamson said India, with its technical and software expertise, could play a vital role in developing telecommunication systems, telemedicine, broadband communications and disaster management....
- The US defence department has invested $100m in the project. Each airship will cost about $20m and has an operating life of five years. "These airships are ideal for a country like India where the large geographies demand more complex infrastructure," said Mr Abrahamson.
"An airship that can counter cross-border terrorism", Imran Qureshi (Indo-Asian News Service), Bangalore, July 17, 2003:
- An American company is seeking India's cooperation in building the prototype of an airship that can combat cross-border terrorism and change the face of telecommunications and healthcare in the country.
- StratCom International, a firm headed by Lt Gen James Abrahamson, the first director of the US Star Wars programme, is seeking India's partnership in the stratospheric airship project for its expertise in vehicle design, payloads and control systems.
- "India can demonstrate its leadership by partnering this programme. It has the right mixture of talent and the challenges it has faced," Abrahamson told a news conference in Bangalore on Thursday....
- The programme funded by the US defence department is expected to produce its first prototype by end 2005 or early 2006.
The following July 19, 2003 article by Anand Parthsarathy published by The Hindu, entitled "Airship developers seek Indian partners", adds to the previous brief sketch of the anticipated uses for the "airship."
- Bangalore July 18. Indian partners in Government and private sectors are being sought for a daring initiative to revive balloon-like airships as unmanned platforms for a variety of military and civilian applications.
- The U.S.-based StratCom International proposes to build stratospheric airships, nearly 200 metres long, that will hover 20 km above the earth, move along straight lines if required, navigate by satellite and carry about 2 tonnes of payload.
- These could be a variety of sensors for remote sensing and surveillance, or `antenna farms' for telecom and cellular communication applications.
- Stratcom has received U.S. Department of Defence funding exceeding $100 million to make the first prototype by the end of 2005, but a number of civilian payloads will also be included in the first tests.
- Lt. Gen (retd) James Alan Abrahamson, Chairman of Stratcom, a former fighter pilot and a key member of the Space Shuttle and Star Wars programmes, said here on Thursday that the company was seeking both customers and collaborators in India. He felt Indian Space and aerospace agencies had much to contribute by way of payload development expertise and could be ``in a leadership position in the project. India has both the challenges and the capability suited for an airship development.
- Lockheed Martin has been retained by Stratcom to build the engine of the airship that will use helium as the gas to keep it afloat in Space. Flying much lower than geostationary satellites and higher than most aircraft, the airship would be an ideal vantage point to cover a swath of about 450 km on earth.
- Over big metros, it could serve a population of nearly 1 million as a giant telecom antenna, but it was equally useful to provide service in sparsely-populated areas where normal ground communications do not exist. The prototype was designed to fly for at least 5 years without break using power supplied by solar panels. It was reusable. While Gen. Abrahamson stressed the civilian applications in his presentation today, a sprinkling of Indian defence experts in the audience were speculating that a platform like this would be ideal for monitoring cross-border activity over long stretches of 200 km or more with an accuracy that satellites cannot provide.
- Indeed Gen. Abrahamson agreed that there was interest in the U.S. military establishment primarily because such an `eye in the sky' was ideal to monitor huge sections of the coastline for possible hostile sea traffic.
- Dr. K. Ramchand, former Director of the Centre for Airborne Studies (CAS-DRDO), in his opening remarks, said the strato-airship ``will be a force multiplier. Two hundred years after the first hot air balloons were lofted, it seems, science has come full circle: This old technology that pre-dates all other forms of manned flight, seems set for a new lease of life.
"The unmanned solar cell-powered stratospheric airships are as big as a football field (500-600 feet in length and 150-180 feet in diameter). They will be placed at a height of 20 kilometres (approximately 65,000 feet) and will carry payloads from 907 kilos to 5,440 kg. The airship is designed to remain in a stationary position vis-à-vis the earth's surface. It will be able to navigate over long distances or on combat patrol when required.
"The civil applications of the airship include modern communications and broadcasting capabilities, supply of analogue and digital voice in several bands, fully interactive video, broadband data communications, disaster management, mobile data communications in remote and rural areas, tele-medicine and tele-education. Defence applications will include flexible combat patrol, ballistic missile defence sensor and interceptor platforms and in facilitating remote air traffic control combining radar and communications." August 4, 2003.
An earlier news article, "Metal Storm signs Teaming Agreement with StratCom International for Stratospheric Airship Technology Applications", dated November 25, 2002, provides a slightly different perspective. It would appear that the Reagan administration's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), nicknamed Star Wars, is alive and well.
- ARLINGTON, VA: Metal Storm Limited (ASX Code: MST and NASDAQ Small Cap: MTSX), a pioneer of electronic ballistics technology, has signed an exclusive Teaming Agreement with StratCom International, LLC for the development and production of specific Metal Storm ballistic products as they apply to the StratCom stratospheric airship. The Teaming Agreement recognises several near-term Metal Storm technology applications for the stratospheric airship, which is a very-high-altitude airborne vehicle, designed to provide command and control facilities for asset protection and contains its own integral self defence capabilities.
- StratCom was formed by its principal, General James A. Abrahamson, USAF (ret) to investigate and develop the benefits of stratospheric airships for military and civil applications. StratCom negotiated an exclusive arrangement with Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems (formerly Goodyear Aerospace Division), and has won several contracts with the US Department of Defense. StratCom's primary focus is in military stratospheric airships and telecommunications....
- James Michael O'Dwyer, President and CEO of Metal Storm said, "The exclusive Teaming Agreement we have with StratCom is designed to lead to the development and production of specific ballistic products that can be integrated into StratCom's stratospheric airship program. General Abrahamson's vast experience in both the military and commercial sector allows us to establish a cooperative framework to pursue increasingly sophisticated weapon systems employing Metal Storm technology with StratCom's extensive stratospheric airship experience."
- On signing the Teaming Agreement, General Abrahamson said, "I have been following the progress of Metal Storm's weapon system technology for some time and find it to be one of the most exciting ballistic developments with which I have been associated. Metal Storm's technology represents a real and new capability for utilisation in stratospheric airships, particularly for homeland security and in missile defence and missile intercept systems. It is also an extremely important development for many agencies in the US Department of Defense."
- About StratCom International, LLC
- StratCom was formed to investigate and develop the benefits of stratospheric airships for military purposes and for civil telecommunications applications. The company has an exclusive arrangement with Lockheed Martin Naval Electronics and Surveillance Systems under which the high altitude airship program for Defense has been developed since 1998. StratCom is a Delaware company with its headquarters in Florida and a Government Services Division located in Keedysville, MD.
Other Related SourceWatch Resources
External links
- High Altitude Airship (HAA), GlobalSecurity.org.
