The infamous military surveillance blimp that broke loose from its post at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland last fall has been cleared to fly again following a three-month investigation into the incident by the Department of Defense.
An investigation by the Army’s Combat Readiness Center and the Cruise Missile Defense System’s Joint Product Office concluded the Raytheon-made blimp broke free due to a combination of flaws, including design, human error and procedural issues, according to a spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command.
“The loss of aerodynamic efficiency along with increased wind drag exacerbated the tension on the aerostat’s tether to the point of breakage,” Maj. Beth Smith, a spokeswoman for NORAD, Defense News reported Thursday.
The 243-foot-long, helium-filled blimp is known as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS, and is used by the military to track any approaching targets within 300 miles. It came untethered on Oct. 28 and floated more than 100 miles northwest over Pennsylvania farm country. Two F-16 fighter jets were deployed to monitor the blimp’s movement and ensure air traffic safety before it was eventually deflated and landed following shots from state troopers.
Holly Starr shared this great picture of fall foliage near Bloomsburg PA moments ago. Oh yeah,&the ROGUE BLIMP too! pic.twitter.com/RdWLLxVi8o
— the Weatherboy (@theWeatherboy) October 28, 2015
The head of NORAD and Northern Command said he supported the continued use of the blimp.
“JLENS provides unique cruise-missile defense capability to our integrated air defense system for the National Capitol Region. It is in the best interest of the nation to continue the program. Investigators took a hard look at the causes of the incident, and I am confident that we have a plan of action to safely fly the aerostat again,” Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of NORAD and NORTHCOM, said in a statement.
But continuing the program will have cost implications for the military. In the Fiscal 2016 defense spending bill, funding for the system was dropped from $40.5 million to $10.5 million and the damages it sustained last October will need to be repaired, incurring additional costs. President Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget proposal includes sufficient funding for the JLENS program, allocating $45.5 million for it in the budget that was released to Congress on Tuesday.
