Raven Industries Announces Historic Five-Hour Flight of HiSentinel Powered Stratospheric Airshiptitle
SIOUX FALLS, S.D., Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Raven Industries,
Inc. (Nasdaq: RAVN) today announced that its subsidiary, Aerostar
International, Inc., along with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), and the
US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) successfully launched and flew a powered
stratospheric airship.
The flight took place from Roswell, NM on Tuesday, November 8. Aerostar
provided detail design and engineering, fabricated the airships hull, and
participated in flight operations from the Roswell NM airport. SwRI, the team
lead, designed the airship and provided the Flight Controller along with the
Telemetry, Power, and Propulsion systems. AFRL developed the launch
procedure, provided the test facilities, and provided the crew and logistics
for the launch. The Army Space and Missile Defense Command (ASMDC) sponsored
the demonstration. Raven demonstrated a small stratospheric airship with a
five-pound payload in 1969. Tuesdays flight carried a sixty-pound equipment
pod to 74,000 feet on a five-hour flight-only the second airship in history to
achieve powered flight in the stratosphere.
The project, titled HiSentinel, is focused on developing small near-space
airships for inexpensive tactical communications and Intelligence Surveillance
and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications. The relatively inexpensive nature of
the Hi Sentinel system will allow several test flights per year to take place,
Raven President and CEO Ronald M. Moquist said. Future test flights will
include multi-day missions with solar power and demonstration of the SwRI
autonomous station-keeping autopilot. Once operational, the system may be
deployable by local commanders in theater operations. HiSentinel is part of
Aerostars ongoing technology roadmap in developing inexpensive stratospheric
LTA (Lighter Than Air) platforms for military and commercial use.
About Raven Industries, Inc.
Raven is an industrial manufacturer that provides electronics
manufacturing services, reinforced plastic sheeting and flow control devices
to various markets.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains statements that may constitute forward-looking
statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. Although Raven
Industries, Inc. believes that expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurances that
its expectations will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ from expectations include general economic conditions, the success of
research projects, and the amount of budgeted funding from US government
agencies.
On the Internet, information is available at http://www.ravenind.com , the
companys website.
SIC Codes: 3672, 3081, 3829
