Posted on 01/28/2013 8:17:09 AM PST by 11th_VA
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 countrys 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 Protection for a number of missions including detection of drug smuggling and preservation of the air sovereignty of the continental United States.
According to Exelis Systems Corporation, the company that built and jointly maintains TARS with the U.S. Air Force, the government has ordered a complete shutdown of Aerostat flight operations:
The government also indicated its intent that aerostat flight operations will cease on March 15, 2013, and that the remainder of the fiscal year will be used to deflate aerostats, disposition equipment, and prepare sites for permanent closure. We are currently reviewing all the details of the RfP and evaluating the possible impacts on the program and our workforce. We continue to communicate with the government on this matter, and we will have more information in the coming days and weeks.
An Exelis employee close to the TARS project had this to say about the closure of the sites:
Not only will this closure mean hundreds of people will be out of jobs, but it also means our borders will not be safe, especially along the remote U.S. Mexico Border like in Texas.
These defense radars detect low flying aircraft infiltrating our borders.
Without these defense radars, low flying aircraft will go undetected.
It will be open season for any drug/gun/slave smugglers, terrorists flying in with nukes, low altitude missiles, or even a full scale low elevation invasion/attack against America.
With China actively and openly deploying Russian-made low altitude strategic bombers, designing EMP weapons capable of disabling the countrys power grid infrastructure, and establishing economic zones within the United States, its difficult to imagine the motivation behind the move to further weaken U.S. air defenses on the southern border.
If September 11, 2001 was any indication of our air defense capabilities, and considering that any ground invasion of the United States would originate on our southern border, then wouldnt we want as many early warning systems as possible to be actively protecting our country in these specific areas?
The U.S. government has chosen to shutdown this outward facing surveillance system, and has instead turned the surveillance inward, on the American people.
“How long until Obama pulls a Palpatine?”
F*cka doesn’t have the brains. Palps was THE BALLS!!!
In the late 80’s, having made trips back and forth between home and San Diego, I happened to notice these Aerostat balloon ops from the main highway on those leave periods...
I thought, “Gee, what a cool job to move into once I decided to hang up the uniform...”
Being a radar and communications specialist you’d think that might be a shoe-in for a kozy job within your baliwick...
Never in my wildest hallucinations would I ever run into such a click-ish operation in my lifetime...Here was a job after a job that was right up someone’s alley after being on the line in the military at that time...
Since I did my research on this effort, I was not deterred until those running the show said that I was not qualified for ANY position available to support those operations...
So hearing about their demise upsets me even more because it reinforced my belief that ALL of this was BS from the get go, never intended to accomplish anything,but being a pit to suck in as much tax dollars as possible for as long as it could...
Understandibly, I do see a lot of peoples point here, in that what will replace this system??? What will protect us from low-flyers, and other low altitude threats to our southern border???
Probably something that we are not privy too, because of security, that is not public knowledge...
We can only hope...But it is suffice to say that it will not be fool-proof, it will have gaps in coverage that can and will be exploited by the very people we are trying to keep from vying their trade, or threats to this country...
Again, we can only hope... And I am not going to hold my breath to its potential success or failure to accomplish what it may be tasked to do...
I would have loved to have transitioned into a position at one or more of these sites, and been doing that for the last 25 years knowing these were operating out there in some remote, but beautiful places along our southern border...But running up against such a government backed operation and its entitled employees kinda turned me off...It even tempted me in my discussions with those running this show to threaten to offer my services to others to help bust the system, exploit those gaps and help them ply their trade...
But rest assured, I knew it to be better to keep the faith and hope it works in the long run...I could have made a lot of money doing so...
So now they are going away...Well, I wish I could say I was one of those employees looking for work now...Now they can reap the benefits of a chief executive that has created their new found unemployment...
I have very little compassion for them...And that is as brutally honest as I can be, knowing that there will be some system in place to take over their neck of the woods on our border...
I just have sneeky feeling that there is such a system, and it will not be something readily discernable from a public point of view...I do not give credit to this administration for being so prudent, it is probably been something in work for many years, but it just happened to be something to fall into the adminstrations lap to be the ones in charge at its implementation...
Not apologizing for my opinion, just stating that on those wonderful driving trips home for holidays to be with family while on active duty, I got to travel some pretty country, and that seeing these in work, knowing what they were doing, it would have been nice to have been a part of it while it was in work...
Just my opinion...
No, he's not stupid.
"He hate me." 'Specially Texas.
I think he's inviting someone to take a swing. Then he'll say to Rick Perry, "Now ... how was that again?"
And that the defensive systems are being turned into guard towers for a gulag?
Nawwwwww, he’s not that sharp...
I still believe there is another “system” that is coming online and taking over the old Aerostat program...
It’ll be even more under the control of Federal employees and DoD personnel...
Maybe I can still get in and be a “scope dope” again...You rally don’t ever lose the skill...
BTW, check yer FReepmail...
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