US Air Force works on plan for near-space vehicle
WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) -
Top U.S. Air Force officials are working on a strategy to put
surveillance aircraft in "near space," the no man's land above
65,000 feet but below an outer space orbit, Air Force chief of
staff Gen. John Jumper said on Tuesday.
Jumper said he would meet next Tuesday with the head of the Air
Force Space Command, Gen. Lance Lord, to map out plans to get
lighter-than-air vehicles into that region above the earth, where
they could play a vital role in surveillance over trouble spots
like Iraq.
Jumper said the Air Force was working with the Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to develop a stealthy aircraft
without metal that could be equipped with special sensors and
remain in the air for months at a time, keeping a watchful eye on
specific regions of concern.
That would help answer the increasing need for persistent
surveillance, which is difficult with current satellites, which
circle the earth in orbit at altitudes above 188 miles 300
kilometres.
Unlike satellites, the new breed of near-space aircraft could hover
for longer periods in one area, and since they are closer to the
earth, far fewer would be needed to maintain surveillance of the
entire globe, Jumper said.
He said this ability could greatly improve the military ability to
conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in
the future.
The U.S. military already has some aerostats, or blimp-like
aircraft, in use to raise antennas and provide surveillance over
U.S. bases in Iraq.
But in near space, such aircraft could carry out radar and imaging
missions, carry communications nodes and even potentially relay
laser beams from a ground-based source against a wide variety of
targets, industry sources said.
Jumper gave few details, but said one of the remaining issues was
dealing with such aircraft on the ground, where they can be
unwieldy.