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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.

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...

Let me break this down. Aeros got $50 MIL from the U.S. to think about developing AIR CARGO blimps, then Ukraine paid Aeros with our money to buy the blimps to TRANSPORT weapons to Ukraine, and Aeros then got more money to help them with surveillance. Where are the blimps? Have you seen any blimps?

This month’s announcement from Party City that it’s closing more than 40 stores as it grapples with new challenges, including diminishing helium supplies, likely came as unwelcome news to customers who count on the store for their balloon and event planning needs. But for scientists like Mark Elsesser, the announcement was something of a relief, inflating hopes that the public, and the government, might start paying closer attention. “When it comes to helium, we’re at a tipping point,” said Elsesser, who is the associate director of government affairs at the American Physical Society, a nonprofit association of physicists. “Party City...

Serhiy Leshchenko, the Ukrainian MP who leaked evidence of Paul Manafort’s systematic corruption to The New York Times, kicking off the latest round of Trump-Russia scandals, is a former investigative journalist famed for his pedantic and forensic habits in parliament. . .Leshchenko and some of his journalist reformer friends, such as Mustafa Nayem, were brought into Ukraine’s parliament by President Petro Poroshenko on his winning parliamentary slate in 2014 as a way of showcasing his reformist credentials. Leshchenko has since become a fierce critic of Poroshenko, whose parliamentary faction he has never left. . .[Q:] Let’s return to Paul Manafort....

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who has played a leading role in investigating the Trump-Ukraine scandal, is facing questions about his own connection to a Soviet-born businessman who has raised money for his campaign and whose company has received lucrative defense contracts from Ukraine's government. That man is Igor Pasternak, the founder and CEO of Worldwide Aeros Corp., which makes blimps for military and commercial customers. His business has also been involved in weapons manufacturing, working with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to produce a modified version of the M4 and M16 rifles, according to reports. ...

Larry Page has his flying cars. Sergey Brin shall have an airship. Brin, the Google co-founder, has secretly been building a massive airship inside of Hangar 2 at the NASA Ames Research Center, according to four people with knowledge of the project. It's unclear whether the craft, which looks like a zeppelin, is a hobby or something Brin hopes to turn into a business. "Sorry, I don't have anything to say about this topic right now," Brin wrote in an email. The people familiar with the project said Brin has long been fascinated by airships. His interest in the crafts...

Coming soon to a Capitol skyline near you: Giant blimps at 10,000 feet? The woman at the helm of the House Administration Committee thinks the Capitol needs eyes in the sky, after authorities failed to detect Florida mailman Douglas Hughes’ April 15 gyrocopter flight. Chairwoman Candice S. Miller, R-Mich., visited U.S. Customs and Border Patrol ground stations along the Southern border in January and was amazed at the clarity of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System, or TARS. She is suggesting the “sophisticated technology” might suit the Capitol. That would mean giant blimps stretching along the Washington, D.C., skyline at...

A film report on a practical field test of men and equipment under simulated combat conditions. The peacetime maneuvers, held in Texas in 1940 and involving 70,000 men from around the country and trucks and other vehicles from Detroit, demonstrated new standards of motorized mobility for the United

The U.S. military has begun testing massive high-tech dirigibles — designed to provide battlefield commanders with a bird's-eye view of cruise missiles or other threats — in the skies over the Utah desert. An unmanned 242-foot-long balloon was launched Wednesday morning about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. It stayed aloft for about three hours before it was pulled back down as planned, according to Paula Nicholson, a spokeswoman for Dugway Proving Ground. Vast tracts of military-owned desert were chosen for the testing because of their remoteness and resemblance to the mountainous, arid environment of Afghanistan, the military said...

THE PENTAGON -- The Pentagon has discovered a gap in the defenses of Washington, D.C., and it's about to test a solution. But depending on your point of view, the solution is either vital for national security or a threat to American privacy.

Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the loss of the U.S. Navy airship USS Macon, NOAA today announced that the wreck site on the seafloor within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Macon, a 785-foot dirigible was one of the largest airships in the world – comparable in size to the RMS Titanic. It was intended to serve as a scout ship for the Pacific Fleet and had the ability to launch and recover Sparrowhawk biplanes. In service less than two years, the Macon, based at Moffett Field in Sunnyvale, Calif.,...

Being unhappy. Being happy. Friends who eat like a horse and never put on weight. Childhood admonishments to think of the starving in Africa. These are some of the reasons the overweight give to explain their size because they are too ashamed to admit they simply eat too much, according to a study. Researchers found there is such a stigma attached to being overweight that over-eaters are desperate to find something - or someone - else to blame. The findings mirror comments by Hamish Meldrum, the head of the British Medical Association, who said patients were increasingly seeking weight-loss pills...

WASHINGTON — In the era of $300 million fighter jets, satellite-guided rockets and complicated battlefield computer networks, Multimax Inc. is trying to revive an old-fashioned technology to thrust the information technology firm onto the front line. The Largo, Md., company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on this new project, the design looks like an elliptical UFO, but the result will be familiar: It’s a blimp. “It is somewhat uncharted waters” for the firm, said Ron Oholendt, a retired Air Force colonel and the program manager. The company has enlisted help from NASA and scientists at the Wright-Patterson Air...

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Party planners beware: a global but temporary helium shortage could deflate festive balloons this fall. The shortage affecting some suppliers results from a series of unconnected events, including delays in getting helium plants on line in Algeria and the Mideast, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said. The agency manages public lands, mostly in the West, and their mineral resources. It handles 42 percent of the U.S. production of crude helium, the colorless, odorless gas best known for inflating balloons that is derived from natural gas production. The government provides more than one third of the world's...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The lumbering, low-tech observation balloon, first used on Civil War battlefields, is making a comeback in Iraq (news - web sites). But this time around it's packed with zoom-lens video cameras and thermal imagers. AP Photo The unmanned craft — which look like smaller versions of the Goodyear blimp — monitor battle zones and other danger spots. They're also used to detect possible ambushes on roads used by multinational forces. On a recent evening in Baghdad, three balloons floated over the Green Zone that houses Iraq's interim government, as well as the U.S. and other foreign missions...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday" Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different...

COLUMBUS, Ga. - In this age of laser-guided weaponry and real-time satellite communications, it may be difficult to imagine any interest in supplying the U.S. defense arsenal with fat, lumbering blimps. But it's no joke. Backers of airships say they are cheaper than satellites and manned reconnaissance planes, and would fill a gap between the two. And, by hovering over a particular area, airships can provide more persistent surveillance than unmanned reconnaissance drones. The blimps also could serve as communications platforms, providing wireless phone or Internet service. "Think of us as a low-hanging satellite," said Mike Lawson, president of Techsphere...

Blimps to patrol US borders for enemy missiles October 1, 2003 - 10:49AM The Pentagon has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a $US40 million ($58.95 million) contract to develop a high-flying, remote-controlled blimp that would monitor US borders and scan the horizon for enemy missiles.The idea is to supplement radar and satellites. The helium-filled dirigibles - about 25 times larger than those seen at sporting events - could also be used to monitor combat zones overseas.They would patrol at an altitude of 19.5 kilometres, and be powered by the sun."It's another mix in the multilayered defence sensors," Christopher Taylor, a spokesman...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...