Originally Posted by
RhinoPherret
Originally planned in 1998 to build 28 aerostats at a total cost of 1.4 billion.
As of 2012; 1.9 billion more had been spent than original estimate and still required an additional 6 billion more to put all 28 aerostats in service.
Fast forward to now: TWO test aerostats priced at 2.7 billion are finally ready to float?
Raytheon knows a good gig when they see one. Nice long contract for some folks to park their carcasses on.
Ehhhggsssaactly. I'm happy somebody gets it. Pork projects, fear, and "security." Makes me sick. And, almost certain to kill more people than it will "protect."
Emergencies happen. People get lost, disoriented, or make mistakes. The blimp, er., aerostat, will have an invisible tether, and pilots may steer, er., vector themselves or be vectored, into the path.
Originally Posted by
StuckInReverse
I just left the KFDK area and wow....just when you thought a complicated piece of airspace couldn't get any worse. The tether down in EYW was at least semi out of the way although it caught a few pilots and aircraft. That one I guess is coming down permanently shortly. They dubbed it "fat Albert" and it has a somewhat comical background of times it's actually come off its tether, been shot down, etc haha. Sad that a few pilots did fly into the tether though.
Yes, it is going to happen.
Aerostat tether crash, 3 fatalities.