TCOM Holdings has agreed to purchase Aerostar International from Raven Industries, adding Aerostar’s stratospheric platform and radar systems capabilities to TCOM, LP’s arsenal of tools.
The Columbia, Maryland-based specializer in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services said Friday that its acquisition of Aerostar is expected to bolster its multi-domain awareness offerings.
Expressing his excitement about the deal, Ron Bendlin, CEO and president of TCOM, added “Our ability to leverage TCOM’s proven elevated awareness solutions using tethered aerostats and Aerostar’s sophisticated sensors and stratospheric balloons will more broadly serve our DoD, DHS, and allied military customers.”
Aerostar’s stratospheric balloon technology is designed to connect and compensate for the disparities between aircraft and satellite tools while serving a broad range of mission types. This will be added to TCOM’s existent portfolio of surveillance mechanisms befitting force protection, distant warning and targeting, critical infrastructure and maritime and border security objectives.
Both TCOM and Aerostar’s goal sets are aligned: to help defense organizations strengthen security in a quickly evolving military and technological landscape. Aerostar’s radar systems utilize statistical detection, tracking and classification to address challenges in border security, maritime and air surveillance. They are intended to complement TCOM’s ISR platforms, which gather data from multiple integrated sensors and enable situational awareness via a consolidated communications apparatus.
Currently based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Aerostar will transition into an operating business unit of TCOM Holdings once the transaction is complete.
The TCOM, LP team is currently working under a $217.3 million U.S. Army contract for the supply of tethered aerostat platforms for military communications to Saudi Arabia. Aerostar’s addition to the TCOM, LP fleet means they might be collaborating on this project going forward.