Article

2011-01-02 Afghanistan

Look up in the sky, it;s a bird, it's a plane. No, it's Gorgon Stare!

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Posted by Besoeker 2011-01-02 08:12|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 There must have been some impressive problems with using airships, because as many times as they have tried, it never seems to get off the ground.

This matters, because a medium to high altitude airship could track every ground movement in a large urban area over time, so that when something bad happened, they could trace back those responsible to their safe houses.

Posted by Anonymoose 2011-01-02 13:44|| 2011-01-02 13:44|| Front Page Top

#2 Most airships require specialized infrastructure that UAVs do not : most UVAs now can take off from short runways, have the controller units in a CONEX container or back in the US; and don't have to use the toilet or eat, unlike airship crews.

Posted by Shieldwolf 2011-01-02 16:28|| 2011-01-02 16:28|| Front Page Top

#3 And tethered unmanned airships still require a maintenance crew and security detachment at their tether stations, and the tether towers/stations are a specialized infrastructure which needs to be built. There were a few being used on the US/Mexican border and they had full blown detachments at their tether points, inside the US.

Posted by Shieldwolf 2011-01-02 16:34|| 2011-01-02 16:34|| Front Page Top

#4 IIRC, the nifty thing about Gorgon Stare is that the video can be viewed by many different units (and agencies) simultaneously. That may be even more helpful that the gee-wiz aspect of the 'camera stitching.'

Here is a Danger Room note from a year ago.

Posted by Free Radical 2011-01-02 19:23|| 2011-01-02 19:23|| Front Page Top

#5 Another thing this allows ... if constant surveillance is being taken of an area, when something does happen such as a car bomb, the video archive can then be accessed to trace the bomb and possibly the bombers back to the source. The vehicle can be traced back from where it came and the people preparing/driving it can possibly be traced all the way back to their homes. Just rewind the tape and trace everyone back.

This is going to make it very difficult for the terrorists. There just won't be anywhere to hide.

Posted by crosspatch 2011-01-02 23:34|| 2011-01-02 23:34|| Front Page Top

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