AFFORDABLE DEFENSE FROM REAL WORLD THREATS

The threat is real

Swarming boats, anti-ship cruise missiles, mine laying ships and unmanned aircraft. These are only some of the dangers the Warfighter faces on the modern battlefield.

What if there was an affordable way the U.S. and its allies could…

Always “see” the threat, instead of having to hope they had a ship or airplane in the vicinity to detect the threat?
Have more time to detect and react to an incoming cruise missile?
Observe key sea-lanes and border regions around the clock, for up to 30 days at a time?
Track hundreds of airborne and surface moving threats, in 360-degrees?
Engage threats, at the maximum range of the defensive weapons currently in the U.S.’ inventory?

That capability exists today. It’s called JLENS. And it’s made by Raytheon.

JLENS, an affordable elevated, persistent over-the-horizon sensor system uses a powerful integrated radar system to detect, track and target a variety of threats. This capability better enables commanders to defend against threats including hostile cruise missiles, low-flying manned and unmanned aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, large caliber rockets, and moving surface vehicles such as boats, SCUD-launchers, automobiles, and tanks.

What is JLENS?

A JLENS system, referred to as an orbit, consists of two tethered, 74-meter helium-filled aerostats connected to mobile mooring stations and a communications and processing groups.
The aerostats fly as high as 10,000 feet above sea level and can remain aloft and operational for up to 30 days.
One aerostat carries a surveillance radar with 360-degree surveillance capability; the other aerostat carries a fire control radar.

JLENS VIDEOS

Why is JLENS affordable?

ONE JLENS orbit can provide the same 24/7 coverage for a 30-day period that 4-5 fixed wing surveillance aircraft (AWACS, JSTARS or E-2C) can provide.

Depending on the kind of aircraft used, a fixed-wing surveillance aircraft is 500-700% more expensive to operate than a JLENS during that same time period because of manpower, maintenance and fuel costs.
A JLENS orbit uses less than 50% of the manpower it requires to fly a fixed wing aircraft. (That’s not counting the ground-support personnel required to launch a sortie).