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Pentagon plans blimp to spy from new heights
LA Times ^ | 13 Mar 2009 | Julian E. Barnes

Posted on 03/13/2009 12:30:19 PM PDT by BGHater

The giant dirigible would use radar to closely and constantly monitor activity on the ground from 65,000 feet.

The Pentagon said Thursday that it intends to spend $400 million to develop a giant dirigible that will float 65,000 feet above the Earth for 10 years, providing unblinking and intricate radar surveillance of the vehicles, planes and even people below.

"It is absolutely revolutionary," Werner J.A. Dahm, chief scientist for the Air Force, said of the proposed unmanned airship -- describing it as a cross between a satellite and a spy plane.

The 450-foot-long craft would give the U.S. military a better understanding of an adversary's movements, habits and tactics, officials said. And the ability to constantly monitor small movements in a wide area -- the Afghanistan- Pakistan border, for example -- would dramatically improve military intelligence.

"It is constant surveillance, uninterrupted," Dahm said. "When you only have a short-time view -- whether it is a few hours or a few days -- that is not enough to put the picture together."

The project reflects a shift in Pentagon planning and spending priorities under Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who has urged the military services to improve intelligence and surveillance operations while cutting high-tech weaponry costs.


(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: blimp; pentagon; spy; surveillance; usaf
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To: SpinnerWebb

Exactly.
I love dirigibles/blimps.
The thought of slowly (and silently) moving above the terrain, even for peaceful purposes, is awe-inspiring.


21 posted on 03/13/2009 12:45:27 PM PDT by SJSAMPLE
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To: SJSAMPLE
“Even geosyncronous orbits are rarely where you need them”

Yeah and you can mozy on over anywhere in only about 5 to 10 days longer than re-tasking a satellite will take.

These things always fail to get traction.

22 posted on 03/13/2009 12:46:07 PM PDT by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and HAVE DOOMED us for a generation or more.)
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To: Dixiekraut

“maybe lighter than airships will be making a big comeback down the road in a few decades “

Yeah but every 4 or 5 years the newest “proposal” will be offered.


23 posted on 03/13/2009 12:48:12 PM PDT by JSteff (It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and HAVE DOOMED us for a generation or more.)
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To: BGHater

sounds like the s.h.i.e.l.d. hover carrier


24 posted on 03/13/2009 12:49:28 PM PDT by sten
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To: theDentist

I’m betting on Michigan. :0


25 posted on 03/13/2009 12:51:30 PM PDT by txnativegop (God Bless America! (NRA-Endowment))
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To: BGHater
It's invisible... (I've seen it.)

"A spaceship?"
26 posted on 03/13/2009 12:51:56 PM PDT by evets (beer)
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To: txnativegop
65,000 feet. Isn’t that within range of SAM’s? How long do they think it would survive?

That depends on whether it will use stealth. Supposedly our military satellites now use stealth.

27 posted on 03/13/2009 12:52:09 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Moonman62

A stealth blimp?


28 posted on 03/13/2009 12:54:56 PM PDT by txnativegop (God Bless America! (NRA-Endowment))
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To: txnativegop
I can still see a future for blimp type machines. maybe not the huge ones we think off. in low tech wars like Iraq they could be very use full. If made cheaply who cares if they get shot down. They could carry flares also. Miniature ones would be a pain to eliminate.
29 posted on 03/13/2009 1:00:42 PM PDT by McGruff (If the War on Terrorism is over, do the terrorist know that?)
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To: McGruff

You make a good point about the small ones.
A blimp that is 1.5x the size of football field is something else.


30 posted on 03/13/2009 1:03:38 PM PDT by txnativegop (God Bless America! (NRA-Endowment))
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To: SpinnerWebb

Don’t get too attached to your GPS.


31 posted on 03/13/2009 1:07:59 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Socialism is the belief that most people are better off if everyone was equally poor and miserable.)
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To: theDentist
I mean, will it be over the Middle East, or Michigan?

In the case of Dearbornistan, is there a difference?

32 posted on 03/13/2009 1:08:23 PM PDT by EternalVigilance (Pro-choice for states is pro-choice. This destroys America...it's all Pluribus and no more Unum)
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To: BGHater

Sounds like the old Aerostat program.


33 posted on 03/13/2009 1:14:11 PM PDT by stuartcr (If the end doesn't justify the means...why have different means?)
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To: BGHater
The song: "Everything Old Is New Again" applies!

Skyhook balloons were balloons developed by Otto C. Winzen and used by the United States Navy Office of Naval Research in the late 1940s and in the 1950s for atmospheric research, especially for constant-level meteorological observations at very high altitudes. Instruments like the Cherenkov detector were first used on skyhook balloons.

In the late 1940s, Project Skyhook balloons provided a stable vehicle for long duration observations at altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet. Balloons, long used for collecting meteorological data, now offered the opportunity of collecting highly specialized information and photographs.

Some people believe that the Roswell Incident was the crash of a Skyhook Balloon which was launched from a facility in Texas and circled the globe with a camera which would photograph the bad guys!

After this program the U2 and SR71 took over!

34 posted on 03/13/2009 1:15:06 PM PDT by Young Werther (Julius Caesar (Quae Cum Ita Sunt. Since these things are so.))
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To: txnativegop

I think most have a ceiling of 10-15K meters.


35 posted on 03/13/2009 1:17:10 PM PDT by stuartcr (If the end doesn't justify the means...why have different means?)
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To: stuartcr

Okay.


36 posted on 03/13/2009 1:19:15 PM PDT by txnativegop (God Bless America! (NRA-Endowment))
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To: txnativegop
Stationed on the Southern border to monitor illegals and drug smugglers and such, not much of a concern, unless the Mexican military gets a hold of a few SAMs.
37 posted on 03/13/2009 1:20:14 PM PDT by Hulka
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To: Blueflag

I remember this being an idea we were tossing around in the Combat Developments arena here at Ft. Huachuca back in ‘92. No, 1992, I’m not that old.


38 posted on 03/13/2009 1:26:33 PM PDT by HiJinx (~ Support Our Troops ~ www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil ~)
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To: txnativegop

Yes, can easily be shot down with missiles.


39 posted on 03/13/2009 1:29:24 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I'd like to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.)
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To: Hulka

Those aerostats along the Mexican border are being put to good use...


40 posted on 03/13/2009 1:30:13 PM PDT by HiJinx (~ Support Our Troops ~ www.AmericaSupportsYou.mil ~)
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