Looking east from Commo Hill (last week's visit to Camp Liberty) you'll see an Iraqi sunrise, Baghdad suburbia and a very important speck called, "Eye in the Sky." That's a blimp or "RAID," Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment by Raytheon. Click on the pic for a closer view... see it?
Inside each unmanned balloon are cameras and infrared sensors used for battlefield surveillance and military base security. Identifying and neurtralizing oncoming threats in real time is the name of the game.
If a gun fires or a mortar is detonated in our camp's perimeter, these airborne guards are supposed to detect hostile activities, focus in from 500 feet up and relay data to command centers.
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I'd like a blimp with some preemptive capabilities, say: A bunch of insurgents hook up and one says, "Let's shoot Americans." The machine detects that and ZAPS them on the spot. Now that's useful!
So we're going with "Spirit of Cropper" 'cuz no news is good news in the security business...
