JLENS Blimp drifting untethered
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JLENS Blimp drifting untethered
Surveillance Blimp from U.S. Aberdeen Proving Ground drifting unthethered.
JLENS blimp has come free of its tether at APG, NORAD says - Baltimore Sun
JLENS blimp has come free of its tether at APG, NORAD says - Baltimore Sun
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Blimp "tracked" by two F-16's from Maryland into Pennsylvania
"WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon says U.S. fighter jets are tracking an unmanned Army surveillance blimp that tore loose from its ground tether in Maryland and is drifting north over Pennsylvania.
Details are sketchy, but a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado says the blimp detached from its station at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, at about 12:20 p.m. EDT.
Two F-16 fighter jets from the Atlantic City Air National Guard Base in New Jersey are monitoring the craft.
FAA officials are working with the military to ensure air traffic safety in the area.
The aircraft is known as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System and can be used as part of a missile defense system.
It's not immediately clear how the blimp came loose."
I'm in a low-population area of PA used for practice flights of all sorts of interesting military aircraft. It is now raining and overcast, but I'll keep an eye out...not a bad place for the Command to let or make it land.
Details are sketchy, but a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado says the blimp detached from its station at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, at about 12:20 p.m. EDT.
Two F-16 fighter jets from the Atlantic City Air National Guard Base in New Jersey are monitoring the craft.
FAA officials are working with the military to ensure air traffic safety in the area.
The aircraft is known as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System and can be used as part of a missile defense system.
It's not immediately clear how the blimp came loose."
I'm in a low-population area of PA used for practice flights of all sorts of interesting military aircraft. It is now raining and overcast, but I'll keep an eye out...not a bad place for the Command to let or make it land.
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Blimp landed near Muncy PA
Radio news just said this blimp landed near Muncy, PA, which is on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. A line on it caused some power outages and an early school dismissal.
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Blimp landing, per Fox News
"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.
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Expand / Contract
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.
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...."
(so, the tether broke at an altitude of about 3300feet?)
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
Expand / ContractFILE: 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.
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...."
(so, the tether broke at an altitude of about 3300feet?)
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I suppose it has a radio link to release helium.
These aerostats seem to get loose a lot over the years. If you've ever lived in Florida it's a staple of local news.
Here are some of the incidents chronicled in a Key West newspaper article:
Fat Albert has popped in and out of headlines over the years it's been flying guard. Most recently, in 2007, three people were killed after their private Cessna plane hit one of its cables and crashed.
In January 1991, the blimp broke free of its tether while being lowered for maintenance and drifted over the Everglades before crews activated a remote-control pressure valve.
The program suffered a series of crashes between March 1993 and February 1994, when high winds claimed three aerostats, according to Citizen reports.
The Miami Herald reported in April 1989 that the blimp broke free while it was being lowered due to inclement weather only to crash into the Gulf of Mexico about a mile north of Cudjoe Key.
But the most dramatic Fat Albert story may well be that of the four lobster fishermen who were taken on a wild ride when they hooked a runaway blimp to their 23-foot fishing boat in August 1981, according to Miami Herald reports.
Fat Albert lifted the boat and its 175-horsepower engine into the air before dumping the fishermen in the water near the Mud Keys.
That Fat Albert was finally shot out of the sky by Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jets using air-to-air missiles.
Jaime Benevides Jr., the captain of that fishing boat, told the reporter he was trying to help the Air Force by towing Fat Albert back to its rightful roost. He was otherwise happy to have his boat back, as well as his Evinrude outboard, after the ordeal.
"It cranked right back up," Benevides said.
In January 1991, the blimp broke free of its tether while being lowered for maintenance and drifted over the Everglades before crews activated a remote-control pressure valve.
The program suffered a series of crashes between March 1993 and February 1994, when high winds claimed three aerostats, according to Citizen reports.
The Miami Herald reported in April 1989 that the blimp broke free while it was being lowered due to inclement weather only to crash into the Gulf of Mexico about a mile north of Cudjoe Key.
But the most dramatic Fat Albert story may well be that of the four lobster fishermen who were taken on a wild ride when they hooked a runaway blimp to their 23-foot fishing boat in August 1981, according to Miami Herald reports.
Fat Albert lifted the boat and its 175-horsepower engine into the air before dumping the fishermen in the water near the Mud Keys.
That Fat Albert was finally shot out of the sky by Air Force F-4 Phantom fighter jets using air-to-air missiles.
Jaime Benevides Jr., the captain of that fishing boat, told the reporter he was trying to help the Air Force by towing Fat Albert back to its rightful roost. He was otherwise happy to have his boat back, as well as his Evinrude outboard, after the ordeal.
"It cranked right back up," Benevides said.
The JLENS aerostat has been a multi-billion dollar boondoggle from the gitgo it seems:
Unknown to most Americans, the Pentagon has spent $2.7 billion developing a system of giant radar-equipped blimps to provide an early warning if the country were ever attacked with cruise missiles, drones or other low-flying weapons.
After nearly two decades of disappointment and delay, the system — known as JLENS — had a chance to prove its worth on April 15.
That day, a Florida postal worker flew a single-seat, rotary-wing aircraft into the heart of the nation’s capital to dramatize his demand for campaign finance reform.
JLENS is intended to spot just such a tree-skimming intruder, and two of the blimps were supposed to be standing sentry above the capital region. Yet 61-year-old Douglas Hughes flew undetected through 30 miles of highly restricted airspace before landing on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
At a congressional hearing soon afterward, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) demanded to know how “a dude in a gyrocopter 100 feet in the air” was able to pull off such an audacious stunt.
The rotary-wing aircraft that Douglas Hughes landed near the U.S. Capitol on April 15. “Whose job is it to detect him?” Chaffetz asked.
It was JLENS’ job, but the system was “not operational” that day, as the head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Adm. William E. Gortney, told Chaffetz. The admiral offered no estimate for when it would be.
...Army leaders tried to kill JLENS in 2010, The Times learned. What happened next illustrates the difficulty of extinguishing even a deeply troubled defense program.
Raytheon mobilized its congressional lobbyists. Within the Pentagon, Marine Corps Gen. James E. “Hoss” Cartwright, then vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came to JLENS’ defense, arguing that it held promise for enhancing the nation’s air defenses.
At Cartwright’s urging, money was found in 2011 for a trial run of the technology — officially, an “operational exercise” — in the skies above Washington, D.C.
Cartwright retired the same year — and joined Raytheon’s board of directors five months later. As of the end of 2014, Raytheon had paid him more than $828,000 in cash and stock for serving as a director, Securities and Exchange Commission records show.
After nearly two decades of disappointment and delay, the system — known as JLENS — had a chance to prove its worth on April 15.
That day, a Florida postal worker flew a single-seat, rotary-wing aircraft into the heart of the nation’s capital to dramatize his demand for campaign finance reform.
JLENS is intended to spot just such a tree-skimming intruder, and two of the blimps were supposed to be standing sentry above the capital region. Yet 61-year-old Douglas Hughes flew undetected through 30 miles of highly restricted airspace before landing on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
At a congressional hearing soon afterward, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) demanded to know how “a dude in a gyrocopter 100 feet in the air” was able to pull off such an audacious stunt.
The rotary-wing aircraft that Douglas Hughes landed near the U.S. Capitol on April 15. “Whose job is it to detect him?” Chaffetz asked.
It was JLENS’ job, but the system was “not operational” that day, as the head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Adm. William E. Gortney, told Chaffetz. The admiral offered no estimate for when it would be.
...Army leaders tried to kill JLENS in 2010, The Times learned. What happened next illustrates the difficulty of extinguishing even a deeply troubled defense program.
Raytheon mobilized its congressional lobbyists. Within the Pentagon, Marine Corps Gen. James E. “Hoss” Cartwright, then vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came to JLENS’ defense, arguing that it held promise for enhancing the nation’s air defenses.
At Cartwright’s urging, money was found in 2011 for a trial run of the technology — officially, an “operational exercise” — in the skies above Washington, D.C.
Cartwright retired the same year — and joined Raytheon’s board of directors five months later. As of the end of 2014, Raytheon had paid him more than $828,000 in cash and stock for serving as a director, Securities and Exchange Commission records show.
How fast does a balloon drift?
Well, it covers the ground at windspeed but it's airspeed is always zero. Of course.
Hydrogen filled Zeppelins in WW1 were the very devil to shoot down even when the right kind of incendiary ammunition was found to set them alight - sometimes, and that won't work on helium.
Shooting holes in a blimp with a gun would have no discernable effect for days, so small are the holes and so large the volume of gas. The differential pressure in the ballonets is so close to ambient that gas doesn't want to leak quickly out of even quite big holes. Downing a blimp isn't all that easy, I suspect. It won't pop like a party balloon you know!
Well, it covers the ground at windspeed but it's airspeed is always zero. Of course.
Hydrogen filled Zeppelins in WW1 were the very devil to shoot down even when the right kind of incendiary ammunition was found to set them alight - sometimes, and that won't work on helium.
Shooting holes in a blimp with a gun would have no discernable effect for days, so small are the holes and so large the volume of gas. The differential pressure in the ballonets is so close to ambient that gas doesn't want to leak quickly out of even quite big holes. Downing a blimp isn't all that easy, I suspect. It won't pop like a party balloon you know!
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AP via Earthlink: Shotgun deflation of landed blimp
State police using shotguns to deflate wayward blimp
Part of an unmanned Army surveillance blimp hangs off a group of trees along County Line Road near the Montour and Lycoming county line, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, after crash landing near Muncy, Pa. The blimp broke loose from its mooring in Maryland and floated over Pennsylvania for hours with two U.S. fighter jets on its tail, triggering blackouts across the countryside as it dragged its tether across power lines. (Jimmy May - Bloomsburg Press Enterprise via AP)
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
From Associated Press
October 29, 2015 1:51 PM EST
MUNCY, Pa. (AP) — State police used shotguns Thursday to deflate a wayward surveillance blimp that broke loose in Maryland before coming down into trees in the Pennsylvania countryside.
The military was in the process of gathering up some 6,000 feet of tether, and the blimp's tail section could be removed Thursday afternoon, said U.S. Army Captain Matthew Villa. The much-larger hull, however, was still in the process of deflating and will be removed in "the next day or so," he said Thursday afternoon.
When the blimp went down in trees along a ravine, it still had helium in its nose that had to be drained. The "easiest way possible" to do so was to shoot it, Villa said, so state police troopers peppered the white behemoth with about 100 shots.
The slow-moving, unmanned Army surveillance blimp broke loose from its mooring at Aberdeen Proving Ground and then floated over Pennsylvania for hours Wednesday afternoon causing electrical outages as its tether hit power lines.
The 240-foot helium-filled blimp, which had two fighter jets on its tail, came down near Muncy, a small town about 80 miles north of Harrisburg, the state capital. No injuries were reported.
Very sensitive electronics onboard have been removed, Villa said.
Villa said it was unknown how the blimp broke loose, and an investigation was underway.
Michael Negard, spokesman for the Army Combat Readiness Center, said a two-person accident-investigation team is heading to the site. He said the investigation is considered "Class A," a label applied to an event that might have caused at least $2 million in property damage; involved a destroyed, missing or abandoned Army aircraft or missile; or caused injury.
People gawked in wonder and disbelief as the blimp floated silently over the sparsely populated area, its dangling tether taking out power lines.
Ken Hunter, an outdoors writer and wildlife illustrator, was working from home when he got a call from his wife that a blimp was coming down nearby.
He drove up the road a short distance and, sure enough, there was the tail section hanging from a tree, looking to him like a big white sheet. He took some pictures before state police closed the road.
Hunter said it came within a few hundred yards of his son's house.
"We're very fortunate that there weren't some people hurt up here," he said Thursday.
Hunter questioned how such a pricey piece of equipment could just float away.
"I don't drive a brand-new car, but I take pretty good care of it. And it's probably a $10,000 vehicle if I'm lucky," he said
Part of an unmanned Army surveillance blimp hangs off a group of trees along County Line Road near the Montour and Lycoming county line, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015, after crash landing near Muncy, Pa. The blimp broke loose from its mooring in Maryland and floated over Pennsylvania for hours with two U.S. fighter jets on its tail, triggering blackouts across the countryside as it dragged its tether across power lines. (Jimmy May - Bloomsburg Press Enterprise via AP)By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
From Associated Press
October 29, 2015 1:51 PM EST
MUNCY, Pa. (AP) — State police used shotguns Thursday to deflate a wayward surveillance blimp that broke loose in Maryland before coming down into trees in the Pennsylvania countryside.
The military was in the process of gathering up some 6,000 feet of tether, and the blimp's tail section could be removed Thursday afternoon, said U.S. Army Captain Matthew Villa. The much-larger hull, however, was still in the process of deflating and will be removed in "the next day or so," he said Thursday afternoon.
When the blimp went down in trees along a ravine, it still had helium in its nose that had to be drained. The "easiest way possible" to do so was to shoot it, Villa said, so state police troopers peppered the white behemoth with about 100 shots.
The slow-moving, unmanned Army surveillance blimp broke loose from its mooring at Aberdeen Proving Ground and then floated over Pennsylvania for hours Wednesday afternoon causing electrical outages as its tether hit power lines.
The 240-foot helium-filled blimp, which had two fighter jets on its tail, came down near Muncy, a small town about 80 miles north of Harrisburg, the state capital. No injuries were reported.
Very sensitive electronics onboard have been removed, Villa said.
Villa said it was unknown how the blimp broke loose, and an investigation was underway.
Michael Negard, spokesman for the Army Combat Readiness Center, said a two-person accident-investigation team is heading to the site. He said the investigation is considered "Class A," a label applied to an event that might have caused at least $2 million in property damage; involved a destroyed, missing or abandoned Army aircraft or missile; or caused injury.
People gawked in wonder and disbelief as the blimp floated silently over the sparsely populated area, its dangling tether taking out power lines.
Ken Hunter, an outdoors writer and wildlife illustrator, was working from home when he got a call from his wife that a blimp was coming down nearby.
He drove up the road a short distance and, sure enough, there was the tail section hanging from a tree, looking to him like a big white sheet. He took some pictures before state police closed the road.
Hunter said it came within a few hundred yards of his son's house.
"We're very fortunate that there weren't some people hurt up here," he said Thursday.
Hunter questioned how such a pricey piece of equipment could just float away.
"I don't drive a brand-new car, but I take pretty good care of it. And it's probably a $10,000 vehicle if I'm lucky," he said
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Shooting holes in a blimp with a gun would have no discernable effect for days, so small are the holes and so large the volume of gas.
:
The military was in the process of gathering up some 6,000 feet of tether, and the blimp's tail section could be removed Thursday afternoon, said U.S. Army Captain Matthew Villa. The much-larger hull, however, was still in the process of deflating and will be removed in "the next day or so," he said Thursday afternoon.
When the blimp went down in trees along a ravine, it still had helium in its nose that had to be drained. The "easiest way possible" to do so was to shoot it, Villa said, so state police troopers peppered the white behemoth with about 100 shots.
When the blimp went down in trees along a ravine, it still had helium in its nose that had to be drained. The "easiest way possible" to do so was to shoot it, Villa said, so state police troopers peppered the white behemoth with about 100 shots.
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"One in a million chance" (tethered blimp)
Yesterday, TV news pulled up a clip from archives of a uniformed spokesman interviewed at the time of this aerostat's raising. In response to question, he said there was a "one in a million chance" of the blimp breaking free.
It surprised me to see the same individual being interviewed on today's news. When asked about his prior risk assessment, he said something to the effect that that was what had been "published" on the subject. Then, with a smile, he said (approximately) "...and regarding the comment on a-million-to-one. There is the one."
The TV reports say the tethering cable is an inch in diameter.
It surprised me to see the same individual being interviewed on today's news. When asked about his prior risk assessment, he said something to the effect that that was what had been "published" on the subject. Then, with a smile, he said (approximately) "...and regarding the comment on a-million-to-one. There is the one."
The TV reports say the tethering cable is an inch in diameter.
Last edited by dogsridewith; 30th Oct 2015 at 12:55. Reason: add detail from second viewing of TV news report
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Bubba, I don't suppose you can tell the Penn State troopers anything.
As it was already down one wonders why it was necessary to shoot at it - perhaps they just like to blaze away with their canons...
Why not use a knife and make a proper hole?
So timescale much as I suggested above...
As it was already down one wonders why it was necessary to shoot at it - perhaps they just like to blaze away with their canons...
Why not use a knife and make a proper hole?
The much-larger hull, however, was still in the process of deflating and will be removed in "the next day or so," he said Thursday afternoon.
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I think the reason why you need to shoot it rather than use a knife is because in order to get the helium to evacuate the envelope, you need to puncture the envelope at its top. Slashing the envelope at ground level will not be effective at causing air to displace the helium which is sitting higher up.
