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."

Comments

Duh.

[Anonymous Coward]

It really is SO obvious that they need to put some giant laserbeams on this shit.

Re:Terrorism

[multiplexo]

Sounds like a really good terrorist target to me.. In fact anyone with an air rifle could do some damage!

If a terrorist has the know-how to build an air rifle that has a range of 14 to 16 miles then he's probably going to be going after some other targets.

I for one welcome our new blimp-borne overlords (There! I had to say it!).

Something new to worry about....

[Stephen Samuel]

A terrorist with a really big slingsghot.

Finally I can sleep soundly

[Hoplite3]

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.)

Re:I haven't seen this mentioned...

[seanadams.com]

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. :)

Starcraft

[Lord_Dweomer]

"Spawn more Overlords."

Sorry, had to be said.

Re:And what exactly will they be able to see??

[aardvarkjoe]

At 70,000 ft, atmospheric distortion (looking down) because a huge problem.

You're right, of course. After all, it's not like anyone has ever found a use for cameras at or above this height before.