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  1. #1
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Border Patrol Testing Surveillance Blimp

    Border Patrol Testing Surveillance Blimp

    Updated: Wednesday, 07 Mar 2012, 4:34 AM MST
    Published : Wednesday, 07 Mar 2012, 4:34 AM MST

    NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — That big white thing flying over Nogales this week is a tethered-camera-equipped blimp the Border Patrol is testing out.

    The Nogales International reports the aerostat is equipped with surveillance equipment and is on a test flight for the next week or so.

    Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling says it was first deployed Monday at an altitude of between 1,500 and 2,000 feet.

    Easterling says when and if the blimp returns to the Nogales border area will depend on whether the agency is satisfied with the system's performance.

    According to the blimp maker's website, the aerostat is capable of scanning a city-sized area at once, making it virtually impossible to sneak up to, or through a protected area.

    Border Patrol Testing Surveillance Blimp
    Last edited by JohnDoe2; 03-08-2012 at 01:23 PM.
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    Senior Member artclam's Avatar
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    The press screws up again. It is not a blimp. It is not navigable. Its just a fancy balloon.

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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Blimp | Define Blimp at Dictionary.com
    dictionary.reference.com/browse/blimp
    a small, nonrigid airship or dirigible, especially one used chiefly for observation.
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    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Border Security Expo 2012: Aerostar heralds increased use of aerostats for border security

    Thu, 2012-03-08 09:52 AM
    Aerostar's TIF-25K
    Aerostar, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raven Industries, is located in Sioux Falls, SD, where it produces a line of tethered aerostats, which have major applications in the border security field because of their ability to provide stable aerial platforms for communications, intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance payloads.

    The company has some pretty impressive credentials in the aerostat field, as a number of its Persistent Ground Surveillance Systems are presently in use at Forward Operating Bases (FOB) in Afghanistan, in collaboration with camera and other manufacturers involved in Persistent Ground Surveillance.

    Tethered aerostats, which are filled with helium, have been used for many years for intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance, port surveillance and security, disaster response and situational awareness. But, in recent years, the technology has become increasingly more sophisticated.

    At the 2012 Border Security Expo held in Phoenix, AZ, on March 6-7, Aerostar displayed a model of its TIF-25K aerostat, which Abby Schmidt, sales and marketing manager, indicated would probably become the most commonly used product from the company in the field of border security -- even though, as she explained, the company also produces aerostats ranging from the 17K (which uses 17,000 cubic feet of helium) to its 120K vehicle (which uses 120,000 cubic feet of helium.)

    Schmidt pointed out that Aerostar has developed a new material for the 25K “envelope,” which will lift more payload because it is lighter, stronger and more durable than the previous fabric. Schmidt indicates that this new high-strength material is already being used in one of its aerostats and is presently involved in final testing in live missions (which she declined to identify.)

    Schmidt was able to point out, however, that Aerostar’s rapid deployment, turnkey solutions and tactical aerial platforms add up to low lifecycle costs and interchangeability of payloads -- whether sensors, radars, communications repeaters, atmospheric testing sensors, arrays, monitoring devices or AIS receivers.

    And keep in mind, she added, Aerostat’s TIF-25K tethered aerostat systems are already in use by DoD for Persistent Ground Surveillance Systems.

    Border Security Expo 2012: Aerostar heralds increased use of aerostats for border security | Government Security News
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