Free Republic

The massive Army blimp that broke free from its mooring and drifted from Maryland to Pennsylvania is "actually still deflating," a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday. "I am not able to give you the mechanics of exactly how they're deflating it," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis. The blimp traveled almost 200 miles north at 30 miles per hour, reaching an altitude of 16,000 feet before it lost altitude and speed, landing in northeastern Pennsylvania. Another Pentagon spokesman confirmed reports that the 240-foot blimp was shot down, but did not know how close to the ground the blimp was when it happened....

A high-tech U.S. military blimp designed to detect a missile attack came loose on Wednesday and wreaked havoc as it floated from Maryland into Pennsylvania while dragging more than a mile of cable and knocking out power to thousands.

BREAKING NEWS: A JLENS blimp that has been tethered at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland has broken free Wednesday and is being tracked by two fighter jets traveling over Pennsylvania at 16,000 feet, a NORAD spokesman said.

One of the U.S. Army’s giant surveillance blimps will rise to 10,000 feet above Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland on Friday for a three-year test. A second aircraft will begin testing in January. The Army’s Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS), which is built by Raytheon, will be tested for its ability to identify incoming enemy aircraft. “This will enable senior defense officials to support a determination whether to transition JLENS capabilities to an enduring mission at the conclusion of the three-year operational exercise,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement on...

Deep cuts to the U.S. defense budget have led lawmakers to consider slashing funds for a key military program that was nearing completion, effectively rendering it useless in the near term after years of multi-billion-dollar development. While the Pentagon has invested billions into many cutting edge defense systems over the years, several of them are now seeing their budgets slashed as Congress grapples with the fallout from massive defense cuts known as sequestration. While the funding cuts are believed to be a way for the Pentagon to cut corners in a tough budgetary environment, insiders warned that programs are being...

Wars of the future will be very different from wars of the past. Everyone gets that. What many do not grasp: The present war also is very different from wars of the past.Among the ways: Those defending the West try hard to abide by the laws of war. Those attacking the West say clearly that they will not be bound by any “infidel” rules. They are committed to what they call a “Koranic concept of war.”That provides them with an advantage. The West’s advantages include sophisticated and continually advancing technologies. We can now track and kill enemy combatants without...