According to NotifyNYC, the flights will be based out of Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, and will operate at altitudes of 1,000 feet and below. (The Empire State Building, Bank of America Tower, New York Times building and Chrysler Building are all over 1,000 feet tall.)
According to Wikipedia, the manned 178-foot LTA craft can remain aloft and nearly stationary for more than twelve-hours, performing various missions in support of technology development for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR).
According to its manufacturer American Blimp, the SPECTOR series of airships answers "the increasing demand for airborne surveillance by military, police and civil aid agencies."
And in case you forgot, today at 2 p.m. the country is conducting a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System. Totally a coincidence. Really.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
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8/20/2012
ReplyDeleteAround 1:00PM today, I saw the Navy blimp patrolling the Hudson River as it flew over the GWB heading south. Ironically at 12:00AM 8/21/2012 there also was an Emergency Alert test. Leaving Port Imperiale, NJ I also witnessed a dozen or so NY/NJ Port Authority police getting out of marked SUVs wearing SWAT gear and carrying automatic rifles at the Port Authority Administration Building on the helix into the Lincoln Tunnel. Something bad is up.
From the Air Force:
ReplyDelete"The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command conducted the first flight test of the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle Aug. 8 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.... The LEMV is not the only airship presently located at JB MDL. Also flown here is the only airship currently in U.S. Navy active flying service, the MZ-3A manned airship."
More at: http://www.jointbasemdl.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123314798