Blimp recruited for interdictions at sea
THE GOVERNMENT LOOKS TO A LUMBERING BLIMP TO BOOST INTERDICTIONS OFF
FLORIDA'S COAST
Posted on Sat, Jul. 12, 2008
BY CAMMY CLARK
cclark@MiamiHerald.com
BOCA CHICA --
The Skyship 600 blimp has been a headturning advertisement for Fuji
Film, rock band Pink Floyd and presidential candidate Ron Paul.
Now the 197-foot airship that looks like a gigantic white balloon
features only an American flag.
The blimp's latest lessee: the U.S. government.
In a $1.6 million collaborative test project conducted by the Navy,
Coast Guard and newly created National Office of Global Maritime
Situational Awareness, the blimp has been equipped with radar, sensors
and electro-optical infrared cameras to provide six weeks of
surveillance of the Florida Straits.
The goal is to catch drug smugglers, immigrant smugglers and
environmental law breakers, as well as to aid in search-and-rescue
missions at sea.
The test is to determine if the blimp can provide the surveillance
information efficiently and economically.
''I've certainly never worked with an airship before,'' said Capt. Scott
Buschman, commander of Coast Guard Sector Key West. ``But there are
several areas of potential for persistent air surveillance -- longer
than a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft. And it certainly is economical.''
Navy Capt. Robert Dishman, the airship program manager, said the Navy's
P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft burns 600 to 700 gallons of aviation
fuel per hour. The Skyship 600, filled with inert helium and powered by
two turbo-charge Porsche engines, burns just 10 gallons per hour.
''If you own a boat with a single engine, you probably burn more than 10
gallons an hour,'' Buschman said.
Because of its great mileage, the blimp can provide longer surveillance.
At its current configuration, missions can last about 16 hours without
refueling.
But the blimp, which can travel up to 57 mph but usually runs at about
35 mph, is much slower than conventional patrol aircraft.
''Obviously, it doesn't have the dash capability,'' Dishman said. ``How
much hindrance it will be to not have that dash speed is one of the
things we are learning about.''
The six-week experiment to evaluate the equipment and the capabilities
and cost effectiveness of the blimp for such surveillance began July 4.
For the test, the blimp, which is owned and operated by Airship
Management Services of Greenwich, Conn., is landing and taking off from
Naval Air Station Key West.
''This is the actual blimp pad last used in the early 60s,'' said the
Naval station's commanding officer, Capt. Steven Holmes. ``Even then,
the blimp provided persistent surveillance. That's the promise of it.''
But more than a half-century ago, the blimp's radar was looking first
for German U-boats during World War II and later Russian submarines
during the Cold War.
''We're taking an old idea and making it new,'' said Rob Gribble,
project manager of the Coastal Surveillance Airship.
The Navy's blimps of the 1940s, '50s and '60s carried depth chargers and
torpedoes. One was shot down in 1943 by the Germans. The modern blimp
carries no weapons.
The Keys already has a blimp conducting military surveillance: a U.S.
Air Force aerostat blimp known as Fat Albert. But that blimp, operating
from Cudjoe Key, is tethered by a cable and has limited range.
The Skyship 600 can roam many miles, which becomes extremely important
considering Coast Guard Sector Key West's coverage area is 55,000 square
miles.
In December 2006, eight of 10 patrol cutters based in Key West were
taken out of action because of structural problems in a failed upgrading
project.
It came at a potentially critical time, with the ailing health of former
Cuban leader Fidel Castro and concern that there could be a mass
migration from Cuba upon his death.
Buschman said Thursday that the patrolling void created by the loss of
the cutters already has been filled by other measures, including
multiple crews on the same boat.
''To me, the airship has the potential to make the cutters much more
efficient,'' Buschman said. ``The airship is much higher, which expands
the horizons and expands the eyes of the cutter.''
The information gathered on the blimp is sent to the 24-hour command
center at the Coast Guard base in Key West. From 3,000 feet in the air,
the blimp's cameras can detect the names of big boats and monitor
activity on them.
The project is part of cooperative strategy for 21st century sea power
between the U.S. sea services, initiated in October 2007.
On Wednesday, a 15-person ground crew and three engineers readied the
blimp for takeoff, with two pilots and two crew to operate the
surveillance equipment aboard.
Before it took off, pilot Mike Fitzpatrick said: ``Everybody loves a
blimp.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami_dade/story/602267.html
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