The Raytheon Company is preparing to turn over an aerostat radar system to the Army's Alpha Battery, 3rd Air Defense Artillery at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. The system is undergoing final operational exercises before a three-year evaluation by the Army.
Previously: NORAD to launch tethered monitoring station
The blimp-borne Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, also known as JLENS, is designed to provide persistent over-the-horizon surveillance across 340 miles, an area roughly the size of Texas.
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JLENS has seen extensive testing in Utah and New Mexico tracking short-range ballistic missiles prior to its raising over rural Maryland. The current helium-filled monitoring station will be joined by a second aerostat in early 2015, and the tandem sensors will be tested for the long-range ability to detect and target potential threats.
Nearly as long as a football field, the JLENS is tethered at 10,000 feet and provides 24-hour, 360-degree coverage to alert population centers, key infrastructure and military assets against cruise missiles, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, high-speed boats and mine-laying ships, among other targets. It will be integrated with the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command to bolster defense of the corridor from Washington, D.C., to New York City.
