International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 30-November 02, 1995 / Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada / The first airship was invented and designed in 1852 by Henri Giffard, a French engineer. Airships were used by both the Allied and German military for surveillance and bomb dropping in WWI. There was a steady increase in airship use up until the Hindenburg exploded while docking in 1937 at Lakehurst, New Jersey. This tragedy almost ended the use of airships. Significant use of airships next occurred during WWII for submarine surveillance and depth charging. Airships for advertising, surveillance, and command control came of age in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Airships can be fitted with several telemetry options or instrumented with sensor systems for surveillance purposes. The telemetry or sensor data can be relayed, real-time, to a remote station as much as 150 km from the airship either encrypted or plain when cruising at 3000 feet altitude. Small vehicles (3 meters long) can be detected at 50 km using radar; 12 km using FLIRs; and, depending on weather conditions and real-time imaging processing, up to 20 km using video cameras. Cooperating airborne targets can be tracked out to 150 km. The major advantages of the airship over conventional aircraft are: • ENDURANCE Up to 20 hours without refueling. • LOW OPERATING COST Less than the cost of a helicopter. • SHOCK-FREE ENVIRONMENT Allows commercial electric equipment usage. • VIBRATION-FREE ENVIRONMENT Yields personnel comfort and endurance. • SAFETY Safer than any aircraft, automobile, or bicycle.

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The purpose of this research was to introduce a Transformational Communications Architecture for the Unit Operations Center (UOC); Common Aviation Command and Control System (CAC2S); and Command and Control On-the- Move Network, Digital Over-the-Horizon Relay (CoNDOR). The methodology used was to conduct Field Tests with government contractors and private vendors in order to demonstrate the capabilities of each wireless technology researched. These wireless technologies, Free Space Optics (FSO), Microwave, 802.16, 802.11b over SecNet-11, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Broadband Satellite, INMARSAT, and Iridium, all have the potential of being implemented in the transformational communications architecture for intra-nodal and inter-nodal links for UOC and CAC2S, as well as the CoNDOR communications architecture. The ultimate goal of this research was to introduce different technologies that offer more flexibility, mobility, and capability at the tactical level giving the Marine Corps the tactical wireless edge. Throughout this research, the focus revolved around testing equipment and network configurations in an IP network. Special consideration was given to wireless issues for the UOC, CAC2S, and CoNDOR, which could improve line-of-sight, beyond line-of-sight, and over-the-horizon communications for each program. These new technologies will transform communications in the United States Marine Corps for the 21st century. / Captain, United States Marine Corps