Geeky Moment: Giant Unmanned Airships Monitoring Battlefield

DARPA is working on futuristic airships that will float approximately 70,000 ft. above a battlefield carrying an integrated, highly advanced RADAR array capable of monitoring individual soldiers, even in heavily forrested areas. Via defense link.com:

A giant, unmanned airship capable of hovering at about 70,000 feet promises to give future warfighters an unprecedented eye on the battlefield.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Integrated Sensor is Structure program, ISIS for short, will provide a detailed, real-time picture of all movement on or above the battlefield, explained program manager Timothy Clark.

As envisioned, the ISIS airship will be able to track troop movements – friendly as well as enemy – up to 180 miles away and track the most advanced cruise missiles from about 370 miles away.

It also will be able to watch ground targets through heavily forested areas, a capability not possible without the huge ultra-high-frequency antenna ISIS will provide.

Operating outside of controlled air space and out of the range of most surface-to-air missiles, Clark said, the system will bring a capability not possible with satellites: the ability to maintain watch over a huge, fixed position without blinking.

Very cool…

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