Pentagon to depend on 19th Century technology to protect DC
So, we’re going to blimps, huh? What with all of the surveillance technology that the government uses, the pentagon is planning to use blimps over the capital “detect any low-flying missiles or enemy aircraft that might be headed to the capital”. Yeah, I believe that. From Fox News;
Raythoen, a defense contractor, said last year that these aerostats can carry powerful surveillance systems capable of tracking people and vehicles from miles away, the report said. The Army, though it did not rule out the possibility of mounting these cameras, reportedly said it has no current plans to install them.
The Washington Post reported that the Army said in a letter to the newspaper that it did not conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment because there is no intention of collecting any personally identifiable information.
“The primary mission .?.?. is to track airborne objects,” the Army said in the letter to The Post. “Its secondary mission is to track surface moving objects such as vehicles or boats. The capability to track surface objects does not extend to individual people.”
Now, I’m not paranoid or anything, but it’s odd that they’ve decided to use this now that I’m retiring (next Friday) and they won’t be able to track my movements and blogging from my government computer. But, they’ll be able to track me with this blimp thing from DC, so I’m sure they’re only spending this money to keep an eye on me. But, like I said, I’m not paranoid, nor do I place an irrationally high value on my blogging.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Big Army
No. What is really happening is Raythoen knew well in advance of your retirement. This system they have been working on since the 19th century is now ready for field testing but management knew if they turned one of them loose over before you got out of Dodge, the chances of it mysteriously crashing were rather high.
The “eye in the sky” blimps are pretty effective as a deterrent in Afghanistan. Of course, their effectiveness is due in large part TO their high visibility combined with the Dark Ages nature of the residents of that fine land (many Afghans believe that the blimps can read their minds).
“It’s not whether you are paranoid, it’s whether you are paranoid enough”
Or maybe, to quote Dr. K, “Even paranoids have enemies.”
Actually, considering loiter time and visible horizon, a couple of properly built aerostats/dirigibles/zeppelins/ whatever are a very economical and effective solution… compare that to the cost of keeping AWACs aloft 24/7.
And they can pay for themselves with ads on the sides.
Imagine the price of the ads…. “This balloon can stay up for 48 hours – buy Cialis”
@3 An old friend of mine puts it this way: “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that nobody’s really out to get you!”
I think they should have those fancy, dancy LED billboards on each side. Sample scrolling ad could be: “If you see Daniel A. Bernath notify MCPO XXXX @ BR-549 or logon to TAH”. On the other sign it could display “CRISIS CRISIS CRISIS”…Winter storm warning! Go to Walmart, stock up on bread, milk, butter and water. Lots of water”.
But I stand by my first thought. Raytheon knew Lilyea was going to retire and they wanted to wait until he was clear of the area before turning their herd of ballons, deriligibles whatever loose in the skies over DC.
I think they are bringing back Dallas “The Thunder Chicken” himself to fly one of those blimps, just to keep an eye on you Jonn.
Aerostats,(tethered blimps), are in wide use in the Caribbean, the Bahamas and the Keys, working with interdiction efforts. There is one on Cudjoe Key that is a broadcasting antenna for TV Marti,beaming a television, (propaganda), signal to Havana. There was an interdiction/DEA Aerostat there too until some drunk pilot flew into the cable and released it. We Florida Keys boaters/fisherman used to taunt the DEA when it was up and operating. The DEA one did have very high resolution camera equipment on board.
@#9 rb325th:
Wrong!
Dallas “The Thunder Chicken” IS one of those blimps.
Get it right!
They’re also in use along the SW border w/Mexico, FO. Reputedly the radar they carry is pretty damn good.
With budget cuts still looming, missile shields will be made of actual shields…..
@11… LMAO!!
“The $2.7-billion Maryland project is reportedly set to begin in October and span three years on the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in suburban Baltimore. The project’s intended goal is to detect any low-flying missiles or enemy aircraft that might be headed to the capital, the report said.” From the Fox News aricle linked above.
Okay, let’s assume that hogwash is true. It means what, that there will be film at 11 from the blimp of the shoulder-fired missiles that were delivered or the dirty bomb that was detonated at street level? Yeah, there’s a plan all right and it has nothing whatsoever to do with enemy fighters targeting the morons in D.C. In fact, it likely has nothing to do with enemies of the United States at all. They are prepping for the rebellion. It isn’t imminent but info-gathering is critically essential to developing targets. Greetings, fellow targets.
@11, UH-OH, THE SECRET IS OUT!!
YEAH, Frankie’s RIGHT, Dullass “Thunder Chicken” Whipitout volunteered for it, too!! They’ll blow helium up his ass until he floats in the air, then they give him a camera. He’s SUCH a badass, all he’ll do at the end of his shift is fart and do another [imaginary]HALO jump!!
How to fuel the blimp? Use all of the hot air and noxious gas from the Pentagon…especially from the JCS office.
This is interesting. It contains some specs, history, and lat/lon for several operating devices including the ones in the Keys and Fort Huachuca.
This location 31.485808°N 110.295546°W is on Fort Huachuca AZ. Paste it into Google Earth, the aerostat is about 700 meters east of that location. A couple years ago, that aerostat broke loose. My spies did not tell me where it went. Maybe one of those loons who post here every so often knows.
It can sense and isolate Jonn’s heartbeat from 150 miles away. It can listen into your conversations by sensing the vibration in your dental fillings. If you try to get away, it can broadcast a beam to mess up your car’s computer. There is a fiber bundle that runs up the tether so it has terabit access to the internet; it can see what you are typing. If you try to mess with it, it will install porn on your cell phone. You cannot hide.
(/sarc)
Just like the NSA warehousing phone metadata, the aerostat will warehouse imagery data. See this: http://www.logos-technologies.com/news/08-08-2011.htmlhttp://www.logos-technologies.com/news/08-08-2011.html. So the statement that they have no intentions of tracking a person (in real time) might technically be true. Nevertheless, given the capabilities of Kestrel (per their own press release) I call BS.
I was on a crew that operated an Aerostat in Afghanistan (non Raytheon). Although we tried earnestly to support the Army, and we often did… the creepiness of spying on “the presumed innocent” (pattern of life) was a popular topic of breakroom conversation. Most of the guys I work with would not do this kind of work on our own soil, on our own people. I certainly won’t.
Sorry for the double link above…. damn phone, damn thumbs.
http://www.logos-technologies.com/news/08-08-2011.html
and/or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kestrel_%28surveillance_system%29
Congrats on the second (?) retirement.
Join the crowd re: paranoid.
There are pluses:
So, we’re turning Washington, D.C. into Blitz-era London because some weenie with too much time on his hands and too many steampunk books decided that it would be cool to use airships to patrol the nation’s capitol?
What would stop ‘the enemy’ from just shooting down the blimps just prior to launching an attack? Or, shooting the blimps down AS the attack? I understand the desk jockeys have to do something to justify their huge salary, but shouldn’t we require them to actually think?
Oh, come on! You all know already that dullas whipitnflogit already floats in the air. He doesn’t need helium. And besides that, he’s self-inflating,too.
I just have one question: if possession of guns and ammo in Maryland is so highlgy restricted, how come Aberdeen still has ammo?
They found a way to make the round Marine float in the air?
They used to have one at Cape Canaveral AFS that was used by the dea. When the one in the Keys was damaged, it was moved down there. For a while, they replaced it with an OTH radar. Now, they have a predator drone. Technology progresses…
They also have William Derek Church the Round Ranger!!