Georgia airship company partners with defense electronics firm

<p>Georgia airship company Techsphere Systems International has teamed up with defense contractor Sierra Nevada Corporation to equip its airships with surveillance and electronics gear used in national defense and homeland security.</p><p>"This agreement brings together the resources and technology of both companies and promises to be successful for everyone involved," Techsphere President Mike Lawson said in a news release.</p><p>Based in Sparks, Nev., Sierra Nevada supplies electronics systems for air traffic control, intelligence and for unmanned aerial vehicles, such as the Predator, a reconnaissance aircraft used to spot terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq.</p><p>Techsphere plans to build spherical airships in Columbus and has scheduled a demonstration flight of a 60-foot low-altitude model near Washington later this month. The company plans to build an unmanned high-altitude version that would operate in the stratosphere for up to a year.</p>