The U.S. military has begun testing massive high-tech dirigibles — designed to provide battlefield commanders with a bird's-eye view of cruise missiles or other threats — in the skies over the Utah desert.
An unmanned 242-foot-long balloon was launched Wednesday morning about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. It stayed aloft for about three hours before it was pulled back down as planned, according to Paula Nicholson, a spokeswoman for Dugway Proving Ground.
Vast tracts of military-owned desert were chosen for the testing because of their remoteness and resemblance to the mountainous, arid environment of Afghanistan, the military said in a statement.
Known as aerostats, the dirigibles are outfitted with radar and communications systems to provide long-range surveillance targeting threats from aircraft, ballistic and cruise missiles.
Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Co. was awarded a $1.4 billion contract from the Army in 2007 to design, build and test the aerostats.
Of course, claims of their effectiveness have been inflated for years.
By: Brant
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3 comments:
You had to go there, didn't ya?
Actually, when you are looking for an aircraft to meet a requirement of extremely-high loiter time, and speed and maneuverability are almost non-issues, the dirigible and other LTA aircraft are good choices.
The JLENS and similar systems did good for us in Afghanistan and Iraq. I kind of liked having an eye in the sky over the FOB.
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