Strictly Street Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 (edited) Forget about the NSA.These guys are _NOT_ setting up a network to track you directly.Nothing to see here citizen, move along, move along.There is zero potential for this to get out of hand.Posse Comitatus anyone? From the Washington Post article: They will look like two giant white blimps floating high above I-95 in Maryland, perhaps en route to a football game somewhere along the bustling Eastern Seaboard. But their mission will have nothing to do with sports and everything to do with war.The aerostats — that is the term for lighter-than-air craft that are tethered to the ground — are to be set aloft on Army-owned land about 45 miles northeast of Washington, near Aberdeen Proving Ground, for a three-year test slated to start in October. From a vantage of 10,000 feet, they will cast a vast radar net from Raleigh, N.C., to Boston and out to Lake Erie, with the goal of detecting cruise missiles or enemy aircraft so they could be intercepted before reaching the capital.The aerostats planned for Maryland will have radar capable of detecting airborne objects from up to 340 miles away and vehicles on the surface from up to 140 miles away — as far south as Richmond, as far west as Cumberland, Md., and as far north as Staten Island. The Army declined to say what size vehicles can be sensed from those distances.The Army said it has “no current plans” to mount such cameras or infrared sensors on the aerostats or to share information with federal, state or local law enforcement, but it declined to rule out either possibility. Link here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/blimplike-surveillance-crafts-set-to-deploy-over-maryland-heighten-privacy-concerns/2014/01/22/71a48796-7ca1-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html More on how they work and the range of tracking for ground targets for the East coast.http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/surveillance-aircraft-floating-high-above-maryland/752/ What they are likely to attach to it.http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/01/29/meet-argus-the-worlds-highest-resolution-video-surveillance-platform/ http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/mts_b/ 24/7 ground surveillance down to individual people. Not to worry though its just meta-data. Edited January 24, 2014 by Strictly Street Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 (edited) Original purpose for the design was detection of hyper velocity cruise missiles booking at low altitude and high speed. That's ok up to mach 2, which is the current inventories, but research is working on near mach 6 and thinking about mach 9. Those cannot be touched yet, even if seen in time. (Think lasers.) Basic worry is that some other country would be willing to sell them... So far it's USA, Russia, China, and India that are working on them. Edited January 23, 2014 by ReconRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbot Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 my post has not much to do with the actual technology in the OP, but i did get to see the first drone flying overhead in my sleepy little town a few days ago. thanks, obama. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuikAccord Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 think faster than mach 9, google scram jet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 my post has not much to do with the actual technology in the OP, but i did get to see the first drone flying overhead in my sleepy little town a few days ago. thanks, obama.That was Amazon drop shipping my toilet paper order 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBBaron Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 um.....AWACS and other surveillance planes have been flying overhead for decades now. Nothing new here.This platform just provides the Army similar capability that is cheaper to deploy, much cheaper to operate and not controlled by the airforce. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 um.....AWACS and other surveillance planes have been flying overhead for decades now. Nothing new here.This platform just provides the Army similar capability that is cheaper to deploy, much cheaper to operate and not controlled by the airforce. CraigBINGO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strictly Street Posted January 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 um.....AWACS and other surveillance planes have been flying overhead for decades now. Nothing new here.This platform just provides the Army similar capability that is cheaper to deploy, much cheaper to operate and not controlled by the airforce. Craig I'm thinking the difference is that the AWACS planes weren't on station for 30 days at a stretch.Also they are watching more of the USA interior than the coastline.See coverage map here (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/surveillance-aircraft-floating-high-above-maryland/752/)Doesn't seem to me they are watching for cruise missiles after all unless they are expecting one from the Pennsylvania Dutch. Perhaps data tapping all the cell phones on the east coast? Particularly the Washington to New York cell traffic.Just a thought, after all the cover story doesn't make sense. Cruise missiles? From where? A sub in the Atlantic?Really? From who? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigerpaw Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 I'm thinking the difference is that the AWACS planes weren't on station for 30 days at a stretch.Also they are watching more of the USA interior than the coastline.See coverage map here (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/surveillance-aircraft-floating-high-above-maryland/752/)Doesn't seem to me they are watching for cruise missiles after all unless they are expecting one from the Pennsylvania Dutch. Perhaps data tapping all the cell phones on the east coast? Particularly the Washington to New York cell traffic.Just a thought, after all the cover story doesn't make sense. Cruise missiles? From where? A sub in the Atlantic?Really? From who?Your knowledge of military ops/capabilities rivals only magley. Don't worry though...that tinfoil hat will protect you from the evil dirigibles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smccrory Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 Don't forget gas masks from chemtrails! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBBaron Posted January 29, 2014 Report Share Posted January 29, 2014 I'm thinking the difference is that the AWACS planes weren't on station for 30 days at a stretch.Also they are watching more of the USA interior than the coastline.See coverage map here (http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/surveillance-aircraft-floating-high-above-maryland/752/)Doesn't seem to me they are watching for cruise missiles after all unless they are expecting one from the Pennsylvania Dutch. Perhaps data tapping all the cell phones on the east coast? Particularly the Washington to New York cell traffic.Just a thought, after all the cover story doesn't make sense. Cruise missiles? From where? A sub in the Atlantic?Really? From who? A single AWACS does not have that kind of endurance so the AF rotates aircraft on duty.This is a long term test of the system at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. A location close to DC which is ofcourse the top priority for defense. The risk is ofcourse very low but there are a number of countries capable of launching from sub or low altitude air craft. And some of the cruise missles have ranges of over a 1000 miles. I expect the real target application to be in a situation like Iraq or Afghanistan or any foreign located army base. This system could provide airborne early warning without the cost of AWACS or constant negotiation for flight patterns from local air control/governments. The South Korea deployment would seem to be an ideal use of this. It is much easier to tap into the phone carriers networks like NSA does than to snoop the radio traffic of modern cell phones. Especially on such a broad scale. Not a likely application. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strictly Street Posted January 30, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 A single AWACS does not have that kind of endurance so the AF rotates aircraft on duty.This is a long term test of the system at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. A location close to DC which is ofcourse the top priority for defense. The risk is ofcourse very low but there are a number of countries capable of launching from sub or low altitude air craft. And some of the cruise missles have ranges of over a 1000 miles. I expect the real target application to be in a situation like Iraq or Afghanistan or any foreign located army base. This system could provide airborne early warning without the cost of AWACS or constant negotiation for flight patterns from local air control/governments. The South Korea deployment would seem to be an ideal use of this. It is much easier to tap into the phone carriers networks like NSA does than to snoop the radio traffic of modern cell phones. Especially on such a broad scale. Not a likely application. Craig So your thinking that it is a test of the tracking abilities of some new type of gear that will be deployed elsewhere. Interesting.There is a lot of air traffic along that corridor so I guess it would get a nice workout of tracking things.Just seems odd that they are tracking more US territory than international waters in an area that already has a lot of security.As you point out they already have the real estate to play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBBaron Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 So your thinking that it is a test of the tracking abilities of some new type of gear that will be deployed elsewhere. Interesting.There is a lot of air traffic along that corridor so I guess it would get a nice workout of tracking things.Just seems odd that they are tracking more US territory than international waters in an area that already has a lot of security.As you point out they already have the real estate to play with.Did you see the diagrams of the system.It is a mobile platform. Designed for rapid deployment. This is just a trial. Location of trial is probably more about for which division lead the development. They would ofcourse want easy access of such a high profile system for the brass. So close to DC makes sense.Still this area does cover a large number of high value targets. Both military and civilian.Can they find and track you driving from Columbus to DC? maybe But I dont think that is the goal of the system. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strictly Street Posted February 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 On a related note, somebody is not only thinking about tracking you, some are actually doing it.192-megapixel cameras (Plural), wow. http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/national/new-eyes-in-the-sky-for-police/2014/02/05/87d72b84-8e82-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_video.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/new-surveillance-technology-can-track-everyone-in-an-area-for-several-hours-at-a-time/2014/02/05/82f1556e-876f-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_print.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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