SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. military has begun testing massive high-tech dirigibles — designed to provide battlefield commanders with a bird’s-eye view of cruise missiles or other threats — in the skies over the Utah desert.
An unmanned 242-foot-long balloon was launched Wednesday morning about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. It stayed aloft for about three hours before it was pulled back down as planned, according to Paula Nicholson, a spokeswoman for Dugway Proving Ground.
Vast tracts of military-owned desert were chosen for the testing because of their remoteness and resemblance to the mountainous, arid environment of Afghanistan, the military said in a statement.
Known as aerostats, the dirigibles are outfitted with radar and communications systems to provide long-range surveillance targeting threats from aircraft and ballistic and cruise missiles.
Raytheon Co., based in Waltham, Mass., was awarded a $1.4 billion contract from the Army in 2007 to design, build and test the aerostats. Several more tests are proposed for Utah later in the year.
Officials said the aerostats will be less expensive to maintain and operate than conventional aircraft-based radar while providing battlefield commanders a bird’s-eye view of threats in a given area.
“Not only will it expand the view well over the horizon, but do so at the least cost to the taxpayer. This is a critically needed capability as we continue to prosecute the global war on terrorism,” Col. William E. King IV, Dugway’s commander, said in a statement.
