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19th Century Airship Technology for Port Security
fenimor writes "Airships - known today mainly for advertising flyovers at football games - are the core of a new coastal surveillance system in development for the the U.S. Department of Defense. These
stationary platforms 25 times the size of a Goodyear blimp will be equipped with an array of cutting-edge equipment for remote sensing, communications, and risk analysis, providing surveillance coverage over a surface area of 500,000 square miles from an altitude of 70,000 feet."
It really is SO obvious that they need to put some giant laserbeams on this shit.
Sounds like a really good terrorist target to me.. In fact anyone with an air rifle could do some damage!
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are not the responsiblity of the user, as I probably stole them anyway
Just a bunch of hot air!
vicious, untreated political sewage...niche entertainment for the spiritually unattractive...worshipless pap
when Britain starts making 'em?
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
I, for one, will not tolerate the Bush administration tethering Michael Moore 70,000 feet above the ocean.
/cue Bush-bash
The possibility of an unprecedented ecological disaster is far too great. (Besides, it'll really ruin the view.)
Sure, the tinfoil protects them from the invisible mind control lasers, but the reflected solar radiation just makes them easier to target from the air with the onboard plasma cannons.
A terrorist with a really big slingsghot.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
Mr Smithers, my devious plan is to block out the sun! Release the blimps!
Whew! Total safety is so close I can taste it! Thanks, guys. Without your cameras everywhere, we'd all be blown up tomorrow. (Well, I'm not sure the one in my bathroom is necessary, but I do store bleach there and it could be used as a weapon if terrorists break into my house.)
Use the Firehose to mod down Second Life stories!
What good is all this info supposed to be if we can't use it to stop a problem before it happens?
Blackmail.
Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the communist part...er... terrorist?
You can't take the sky from me...
cid's gonna be pissed
Port security? I thought we already had that pretty much covered, what with port knocking, firewalls, and ssh tunnelling...
Stupid like a fox!
What keeps some random person who owns a gun from taking one of these down, exactly?
:)
Gravity.
It has been called an "unforgiving motherfucker" by the walker-bound elderly, but the fact is, only gravity can protect our prescious airships from the terrorists who seek to destroy our way of life.
Let's suppose you've got a nice powerful 50 cal that fires at 2000 feet per second.
physics tells us that it'll take 2000 feet per second / 32 feet per second per second = 62.5 seconds to reach it's max height.
Then we can figure out how high that is with this equation:
distance = initial speed * time - ( 1/2 ) * acceleration * time^2
2000 * 62.5 - 0.5 * 32 * 62.5^2
125000 - 62500
== 62500
So your bullet will turn around roughly a mile short of the target.
I checked with them.
Apparently the planes will simply crash through the cables - diverting idea too much hassle.
Sorry, had to be said.
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How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
I thought that was Rush Limbaugh...
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar