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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Baghdad to get an "all-seeing eye" |
| 2004-04-22 |
| Or truly, Allah will be watching A huge balloon used for surveillance will be on its way from Akron to Baghdad this summer. An Akron-based division of Lockheed Martin introduced the aerostat Tuesday, which is filled with helium and tethered to the ground by high-strength cables. The Army says the aerostat will hover about 2,500 feet over Baghdad and will carry electro/optic-infrared sensors. Officials say the aerostat and sensor will be tested in Arizona in June and then will be sent to Iraq in July. The deflated balloon can fit in an 8-foot box and weighs 1,200 pounds. Lockheed Martin program director Warren Morrison says it can keep track of a 100-mile diameter area. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #15 Feds have had an Aerostat at Ft.Hauchuca(Home of the Buffalo Soldiers) for years,damned effective at spotting low flying smuglers. |
| Posted by: raptor 2004-04-22 10:11:59 PM |
| #14 #11 I just hope someone thought to make it look like a giant pig. Bu-be-de-ya be-de-ya be-de-ya That's all folks! |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-22 8:30:41 PM |
| #13 Put some snipers up there on it. No amount of cowering behind a wall will help the Jihadi's then. |
| Posted by: Charles 2004-04-22 8:23:17 PM |
| #12 RC Lol! Well that should settle the nickname - it's gotta be Porky! |
| Posted by: .com 2004-04-22 7:59:03 PM |
| #11 I just hope someone thought to make it look like a giant pig. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-04-22 7:57:06 PM |
| #10 I was in South Carolina when they started deploying Fat Albert, working at a Tac Recce squadron. We didn't even get a worthwhile daily newspaper, but always knew when the drug dealers got a new delivery, because the number of roadside "shrimp" salesmen tripled. I transferred from there to Omaha, Nebraska, and we heard about how many targets were identified every night by "Fat Albert - into the HUNDREDS! Nine out of ten were decoys. Finally the Feds wised up - the fast guys were coming in, dumping the stuff with buoys attached, and leaving. THE NEXT DAY, slow guys would go out, tag the buoys, and bring the stuff in. Started making some big busts for awhile, until the drug bunch changed operations again. Same thing will happen in Baghdad. The first month or two, the bad guys will target the balloon, and the good guys will whack 'em. The next few months, the bad guys will lay low, devising new tactics. Then we'll have a spate of ops, the good guys will find a counter, and we'll go around again. I think this thing will help, I think it's probably at least semi-self-sealing (otherwise, it's self-defeating), and it's probably a good thing. It'll take some getting used to. It'll make some people angry, some people nervous, and a few people scared. It may help whack some bad guys, which won't be a bad thing. If it makes life better for a few people, it's done its job. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-04-22 7:44:30 PM |
| #9 No doubt the aerostat will attract marksmen of all stripes and weaponry. Anyone here familar with the "Fat Albert" project headed up by VP Bush in the 80s? It was a drug interdiction radar mounted under a fat balloon tethered to the ground. The first one was deployed at Cape Canaveral and the next one was in Key West. The latter became a favorite target of gunners in speed boats. I can't recall if they were ever sucessful in bringing it down or disabling the radar. |
| Posted by: GK 2004-04-22 6:33:28 PM |
| #8 Yosemite, thanks for the itchy red butthole. |
| Posted by: Zpaz 2004-04-22 6:33:09 PM |
| #7 Bullet proof umbrellas. Fashionable. Many colors. Patented. I have a working model. Any investors?? |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-04-22 6:06:49 PM |
| #6 The max effective range of an RPG-7 is anywhere from 300m to 500m depending on whose website you believe. There is a difference between the max range and the max effective range. The max effective range for an M-16A2 is about 800m, but if you elevate the barrel to 45 degrees, a round will fly 2653m. In Vietnam, the rule of thumb was for command gunships to fly at 3000 ft above ground level to avoid ground fire. My guess is that an RPG wouldn't even get close, but that a .50cal or 14.5mm MG might be able to tag it. A SAM 7 would be usless since it needs a strong infrared signature/ |
| Posted by: 11A5S 2004-04-22 5:55:11 PM |
| #5 Yosemite Sam, lol. Headline: "Bagdad renamed 'Mordor;' Bush to Replace President's Daily Briefing with Gazing into Palantir." |
| Posted by: sludj 2004-04-22 5:44:05 PM |
| #4 RWH -- thanks for asking -- that was my question also -- Surely, Lockheed knows what they are doing! Who's got answers? |
| Posted by: Sherry 2004-04-22 5:42:08 PM |
| #3 What's the effective range of an RPG? Hopefully it will be too cool to be a viable target for an SA-7, but every rifleman in town will be plinking away at this thing. If Lockheed didn't make it bulletproof, I hope they bring lots of patches. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-04-22 5:38:15 PM |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Yosemite Sam 2004-04-22 5:38:07 PM |
| #1 I love it. It'll drive the hajiis absolutely bugshit. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-04-22 5:34:04 PM |