Free Republic

The Border Patrol’s aerostat program in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley — the “eyes in the sky” tethered surveillance blimps that have for years dotted the skyline of South Texas — are being dismantled, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, told Border Report... Cuellar told Border Report via phone. “It costs too much money.” The actual blimps are owned by the federal government and are Army surplus, most having been used in Afghanistan and the Middle East. The contractors hired by the operating companies are, in many cases, veterans who were trained by the federal government when they were in active military...

FORT HUACHUCA — For decades, the large, helium-filled aerostat has floated silently against the horizon above Sierra Vista, time enough for both long-time residents and new arrivals to possibly lose sight of the skyborne equipment’s mission as an important link a chain of detection spanning the entire international border. The Tethered Aerostat Radar System, or TARS, traces its origins back to the 70s and 80s, when traditional, ground fixed radar systems were being evaded by the newly airborne efforts of South American drug cartels.

FORT HUACHUCA — A fire, which apparently began in a picnic area in the post’s Lower Garden Canyon, consumed 75 acres but as of 7 p.m. Saturday the blaze was well underway of being extinguished, post and U.S. Forest Service officials said. “We’re fairly certain it was human-caused,” said the post’s director of Emergency Services Dan Ortega, noting there were people picnicking in the area. However the exact cause of the blaze is under investigation, he emphasized. While it is being called the Aerostat Fire, the site of the blaze is not close to the special function on the post...

The aerostats — that is the term for lighter-than-air craft that are tethered to the ground — are to be set aloft on Army-owned land about 45 miles northeast of Washington, near Aberdeen Proving Ground, for a three-year test slated to start in October. From a vantage of 10,000 feet, they will cast a vast radar net from Raleigh, N.C., to Boston and out to Lake Erie, with the goal of detecting cruise missiles or enemy aircraft so they could be intercepted before reaching the capital. Defense contractor Raytheon last year touted an exercise in which it outfitted the aerostats...

SIERRA VISTA — The aerostat that floats above Fort Huachuca will continue to monitor the U.S./Mexico border, at least through September, 2013, U.S. Rep. Ron Barber announced Tuesday. The Tethered Aerostat Radar Systems, or TARS, was scheduled to discontinue March 15, following an announcement by the U.S. Air Force in January. Barber was among 15 members of Congress who responded to that announcement, signing onto a letter that was sent to the heads of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget. Tuesday, Barber’s Washington, D.C. office...

As the U.S. government continues to expand surveillance and monitoring systems to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars within the borders of the United States, a recent announcement regarding the country’s southern air defense systems is raising eyebrows. Our southern border is, in part, protected by the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS), which utilizes moored balloons hovering at about 15,000 feet to identify low flying aircraft and missiles that may penetrate the border and cross into U.S. airspace. The system is utilized by the U.S. Air Force, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), and U.S. Customs and Border...