Thread: Runaway military blimp loose over US

Runaway military blimp loose over US

Date October 29, 2015 - 5:18AM

A US high-tech missile defence blimp. Photo: Raytheon

Washington: A high-tech US military blimp equipped with radar to help detect a missile attack came loose from its moorings in Maryland on Wednesday and floated over the neighbouring state of Pennsylvania, the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) said.

Two F-16 fighter jets were monitoring the surveillance system as it hovered at about 16,000 feet.

"NORAD officials are working closely with the (Federal Aviation Administration) to ensure air traffic safety, as well as with our other interagency partners to address the safe recovery of the aerostat," NORAD said.

US military high-tech blimp at a testing ground. Photo: Raytheon

It was not immediately clear how the blimp became detached from its mooring station at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, a US Army facility in Maryland.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/runaway-...#ixzz3ptMBfUl0

Runaway blimp on the ground and secure in central Pennsylvania, police say

Published October 28, 2015 FoxNews.com




An unmanned blimp that had been floating loose over Maryland and Pennsylvania for over four hours has landed and is secure, the Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday afternoon.

The blimp, which is longer than a football field, was secured on the ground in Montour County, Pa., NORAD spokesman Navy Capt Scott Miller said during a Pentagon phone briefing.

State police spokesman Bob Reese told the Associated Press it came down in the area of Muncy, about 50 miles west of Wilkes-Barre.

The Baltimore Sun reported that the helium-filled blimp detached from its mooring at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Md., just before noon.

Related Image



FILE: Two F-16 fighters are tracking a JLENS aerostat that somehow became free from its tether at a facility in Maryland.


The Air Force said two F-16 fighter jets monitored the blimp as it drifted northwestward into and across Pennsylvania.

More on this...

• How did military blimp break loose?
  
  
• Feds: Blimp dragging tether, causing power outages
  
  

It was spotted over Bloomsburg, Pa., dragging its 6,700-foot cable early Wednesday afternoon. The cable reportedly damaged area infrastructure and caused power outages.

Over 18,000 people in the area were experiencing outages, according to regional utility PPL.

The area's representative in Congress said the blimp left "quite a bit of damage" in its path before being secured.

“We’re concerned about the safety of the people on the ground across a pretty wide swath of Pennsylvania. The blimp left quite a bit of damage at ground level in its path... We’re continuing to monitor the situation, but are thankful that something worse did not occur," Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa. said.

JLENS is short for Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor. The craft looks like a blimp, but the tether technically means it is an aerostat. The craft is the size of a football field and cost about $180 million.

The system featured two, unmanned aerostats, tethered to concrete pads 4 miles apart. They were intended to float at an altitude of about 10,000 feet, about one-third as high as a commercial airliner's cruising altitude.

One balloon was designed to continuously scan in a circle from upstate New York to North Carolina's Outer Banks, and as far west as central Ohio.

The other was meant to carry precision radar to help the military on the ground to pinpoint targets. The craft can stay in the air for up to a month at a time and has a high-definition 360-degree radar capable of monitoring 340 miles in any direction.

A storm near the JLENS program's test facility Elizabeth City, N.C., in 2010 caused a civilian balloon to break loose from its mooring and destroy a grounded JLENS blimp.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/10/28...?intcmp=hplnws

It's not a blimp. It's just a balloon shaped like a blimp. I suppose if it were shaped like a battleship the journalists would've written, "Runaway battleship loose over US". It's not powered. It's not steerable. It is just a balloon outfitted with antennas. These news outlets really should start hiring high school graduates.