Blimps To Help Protect Washington DC From Air Attack

Hugh Pickens writes writes "Reuters reports that a pair of bulbous, helium-filled 'aerostats', each 243 feet long, will be moored to the ground and fly as high as 10,000 feet, as part of a high-tech shield designed to protect the Washington D.C. area from an air attack like the one that took place on September 11, 2001. One of the aerostats carries a powerful long-range surveillance radar with a 360-degree look-around capability that can reach out to 340 miles. The other carries a radar used for targeting. Operating for up to 30 days at a time, JLENS is meant to give the military more time to detect and react to threats (PDF), including cruise missiles and manned and unmanned aircraft, compared with ground-based radar and is also designed to defend against tactical ballistic missiles, large caliber rockets and moving vehicles that could be used for attacks, including boats, cars and trucks. 'We're trying to determine how the surveillance radar information from the JLENS platforms can be integrated with existing systems in the National Capital Region,' says Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Washington is currently guarded by an air-defense system that includes Federal Aviation Administration radars and Department of Homeland Security helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft on alert at Reagan National Airport to intercept slow, low-flying aircraft."

Comments

Re:You're joking, right?

[CanHasDIY]

This aerostat says its altitude is 10,000 feet, but no caliber rifle right now will be able to shoot vertically more than 1,500 ft.

Limiting yourself to only shoulder-fired rifles, you're pretty much right.

However, when you take into consideration some of the larger caliber, mounted rifles, the picture changes - the Bofors 40mm rifle, for example, has an effective range of 40-60,000 feet, well beyond the flight ceiling of the target, er, balloon in question.

And yes, civilians can own a Bofors, provided they pass the same rigors as are required for other fully automatic weapons.