USAF jets track runaway military blimp that broke loose- Oct. 2015

[CougarKing]

Wouldn't UAVs make this type of blimp obsolete already?

Canadian Press

US fighter jets track runaway military blimp that broke loose, drifting over Pennsylvania
The Canadian PressBy Robert Burns

WASHINGTON - Two Air Force fighter jets tracked an unmanned Army surveillance blimp Wednesday that broke loose from its ground tether in Maryland and drifted north over Pennsylvania, Pentagon officials said.

The North American Aerospace Defence Command in Colorado said the blimp detached from its station at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, at about 12:20 p.m. EDT, and was travelling at an altitude of about 16,000 feet.

State police in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, confirmed they had been getting 911 calls about blimp sightings, but they could not provide additional details.

The runaway blimp was causing a stir in Pennsylvania, with people tweeting photos of an object believed to be the blimp.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[SupersonicMax]

That's what the government wants you to believe...  It was actually a UFO from area 52 spreading chemtrails around...

 

[dapaterson]

That's what the government wants you to believe...  It was actually a UFO from area 52 spreading chemtrails around...

Continuing to spread that falsehood?

We all know that the blimp is part of a secret UN plan to overthrown the US constitution and install a dictatorship based on the principles of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.  Area 52 is just a cover for those nefarious activities.

We're through the looking glass, people...

 

[winnipegoo7]

Wouldn't UAVs make this type of blimp obsolete already?

No.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JLENS

 

[dimsum]

Wouldn't UAVs make this type of blimp obsolete already?

Canadian Press

No - if it's for constant surveillance of a fixed area, aerostats are much cheaper and there are no crews to man them (aside from the cameras).  Think of it like a really high guard tower.

 

[winnipegoo7]

No - if it's for constant surveillance of a fixed area, aerostats are much cheaper and there are no crews to man them (aside from the cameras).  Think of it like a really high guard tower.

Nope. It's not. It's part of the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System. It uses radar.

The system features two tethered aerostats, roughly 77 yards (70 m) in length, that float to an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) for up to 30 days at a time. Each aerostat utilizes a different radar system—one has a VHF-band surveillance radar and the other an X-band fire-control radar. JLENS is designed to provide 24/7, 360-degree coverage extending 340 miles (300 nmi; 550 km), an area roughly equal to the size of Texas; the surveillance radar scans in all directions to pick up targets, then the targeting radar looks only in a certain segment to guide weapons to it. Its detection capability seeks to equal to 4-5 fixed-wing aircraft, and is designed to operate at 15-20 percent of the cost of fixed-wing aircraft.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JLENS

And no camera:

A spokesperson for the Army stated that "absolutely, 100 percent" that JLENS will not have video cameras

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JLENS

 

[Edward Campbell]

No - if it's for constant surveillance of a fixed area, aerostats are much cheaper and there are no crews to man them (aside from the cameras).  Think of it like a really high guard tower.

See more about them here, in a different context.

 

[cupper]

Keep seeing these things over the Baltimore region as I'm headed up and down I-95 the past couple of months. Was wondering what they were.

I missed the excitement by only a short period today driving back from NYC and Philadelphia today. The weather was crap, high winds, heavy rain, and limited visibility.

Apparently they are based out of the Aberdeen Proving Grounds.