ISIS
Integrated Sensor Is Structure · DARPA/USAF airship radar
CORE programme
Same PE as MAGIC. Lockheed integrator, Raytheon radar, ~$400–462m. Stratospheric airship with very large low-power radar. Confirmed programme; no evidence of MH370 collection.
ISIS is a DARPA/USAF effort to integrate a low-power-density, very large aperture radar into a station-keeping stratospheric airship. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics (Palmdale) was systems integrator; Raytheon SAS (El Segundo) the radar developer. Lockheed’s 27 April 2009 Phase 3 release: just under $400m, one-third-scale autonomous airship, 90-day station-keeping objective. USAF PB2015 states a $462m CPFF contract value. Objective ranges ~600 km airborne / 300 km ground. FY2014 plan: complete selected radar demonstration and airship risk-reduction. ISIS shows how much money sat in persistent wide-area sensing in the same budget line as Orion. It does not place an ISIS airship near MH370.
Sources
- Lockheed Phase 3 ISIS release, 27 Apr 2009
- USAF PB2015 PE 0305205F
Related
MAGIC
Medium Altitude Global ISR and Communications
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
ISIS systems integrator, Palmdale
Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems
ISIS radar · MTS for USAF UAVs · large classified SAS bookings
Lockheed awarded ISIS Phase 3
27 April 2009 · just under $400m