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To: meandog; jjm2111; StolarStorm; PoorMuttly; HuntsvilleTxVeteran; elbucko
When I first read this post, my reaction was scepticism, as has been the reaction of those I address. The only smart thing I saw in it was "Textron would mount its Theater Airborne Warning System on the J-STARS [Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System] aircraft." That seemed practical.

On second thought I began to see the possiblities. This is a theater system, not strategic, first. It is a trip wire system, that is, flying outside of the target's airspace, so attacking it would be an act of war. It is designed to be "autonomous", that is, unmanned if desired, and is part force projection, part reconnaisance, and part "we are watching you". Obviously the blimp would be fairly easy to shoot down, flying at 65,000 feet, an obvious problem. So I ran a few numbers.

At 13 miles above sea level the blimp radar would "see" objects 2 miles above sea level at a range of 323 miles. The blimp would stay on station, likely using GPS, but could be moved at will. A mach 6 missle takes about 6 minutes to go 323 miles and could be watched for nearly the full time of flight. A light weight CIWS equivalent unguided rocket system plus something like Phoenix with a small nuclear warhead would give really quite good protection. A frigate with Standard missles would be a pretty good back up.

Imagine the possibilities. Three hundred miles off of North Korea, watching every move, every second. Wouldn't that jack Kim Il Jung's jaws?? hey?? How about the coast of China? The Taiwan Strait?

Nowadays, everybody knows the exact time every satellite passes over, and put all their action under a shed roof during the satellite passover. Satellites work super for naval recon, but not so hot for land recon unless backed up by aircraft - including this blimp!! Weird, sure, but looking more cool every minute!!

18 posted on 10/22/2003 10:52:55 AM PDT by Iris7 (Victory, always Victory, at any cost, though the beasts of Hell march against us!!!!!)
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To: Iris7
Pity the poor guy at the controls, though.

Muttly want a ride anyway.


Hey..sitting ducks are food, aren't they ?

Muttly like giant Blimps...AND food.
21 posted on 10/22/2003 11:01:56 AM PDT by PoorMuttly (Operation Enduring Muttly)
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