A still - chilling issue of post-9/11 America is that we continue all too aware of the fact that we could be assail at any here and now . And so with worst case scenario in mind , the military is constantly upgrading our defense system in increasingly creative ways . Washington DC is next in wrinkle . It ’s get blimps .
To callRaytheon ’s JLENS systemmere blimps , though , is doing the defense contractor a disservice . These house - sized flying spy fortress can identify threats on the ground that even the most potent land - based radar would miss . They can blob and track incoming cruise missiles , mine - laying ship , armed drones , or anything incoming from hundreds of miles away in 360 - degrees and react in real - prison term . Perhaps most impressively , the JLENS organization can stay in the air watching over a base or a metropolis for up to 30 day , all day and all Nox , without postulate to be resupplied or refueled . apparently , this is preferable to the very expensive fleet of five undercover agent plans that it would take to do the same workplace that the JLENS does with less than half the manpower .
Sometime in 2014 , the Defense Department will deploy a pair of JLENS Colonel Blimp over the Washington DC to watch over the nation ’s capital . At 74 - meters long , the aircraft are n’t on the dot Goodyear blimp - sized , but they ’re not invisible either . The JLENS system is made up of two aerostats : One equipped with a flame control radar that provide targeting data and the other with a surveillance radar that can see in all directions . blow at 10,000 foot above the ground , the JLENS system of rules will also be able-bodied to see all the way out to the Atlantic Ocean .
The JLENS system is already on its way to the Washington DC sphere after having finished a successful test out in Utah . With over 100 soldiers civilize on the organisation , the Army ran early user testing in a telephone number of unlike complex scenarios . The next step is to send the whole outfit to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland where it will undergo an useable rating and finally enter into participating duty , so to speak .
It ’s unclear incisively when the JLENS system should take flight , but it ’s surd to see the downside in the arranging until then . When all said and done , the Defense Department will be spending up to 700 percentage less on the JLENS scheme than on spy planes , and will seemingly get good tribute . And who bed ? They might be able-bodied to incline in some aerial photography for Redskins plot . [ Raytheon ]
mental image via Raytheon
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