Company in the newsSanswire has lofty plans for airship
The Florida company has seen its ups and downs, but it now has a joint venture with TAO Technologies of Germany to develop and manufacture airships for use in war zones, border security, and for commercial purposes
David Christian is regarded as one of America’s most decorated veterans, awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, two SilverStars, a Bronze Star and seven Purple Hearts for service during the Vietnam War. Christian’s courage ought to serve him well as he takes the helm of Sanswire Corp., a Fort Lauderdale, Florida company that has been through several incarnations — from developer of shock-absorber systems to distributor of gonorrhea-test kits to telecommunications-service provider.
Miami Herald’s Patrick Danner writes that no matter the line of business, though, the company’s performance has been downright scary. Losses since the company’s inception more than 10 years ago top $125 million.
Christian, named Sanswire’s CEO this month after becoming chairman in May, vows to change the company’s money-losing ways with its latest endeavor — supplying unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). And this isn’t a lot of hot air, he assures. ”Is it pump-and-dump bulls*** that has happened in this company, in my opinion, in the past? No,” declares the former Army captain. ”There has been a lot of blue smoke and mirrors in the past. [Now] we’re dealing in reality. We’re dealing with a real product.”
Sanswire has a joint venture with TAO Technologies of Germany to develop and manufacture airships for use in war zones, border security, and for commercial purposes — such as monitoring gas pipelines. They hope to begin mass production of the airships next year somewhere in the United States.
The airships, Christian says, can play critical roles in military intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and help save lives. For instance, a UAV controlled by remote control and manned with an infrared camera can detect hostile forces on the other side of a mountain.
UAVs on the battlefield are not new. Jeffrey Kappenman, director for the Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems at the University of North Dakota, says there are hundreds of UAV systems in use in Iraq and Afghanistan. ”Clearly, the global war on terror is driving the demand, and the demand is driving industry to meet the demand,” says Kappenman, a retired Army colonel. ”There is great innovation going on. Because of the global war on terror, we’ve probably moved 20 years in development over the past five years just to protect soldiers, airmen and sailors.”
State of the art
The technology behind the airships Sanswire and TAO are developing is fifteen years in the making. One lighter-than-air UAV being developed has a snake-like design that’s 76 feet in length. It can
