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From: elyssa.durant@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2010 06:27:44 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Reuters - Pentagon boosting Afghanistan "eyes in the sky"
To: ed70@columbia.edu This article was sent to you from elyssa.durant@gmail.com, who uses
Reuters Mobile Site to get news and information on the go. To access
Reuters on your mobile phone, go to:
http://mobile.reuters.com Pentagon boosting Afghanistan "eyes in the sky" Saturday, Apr 03, 2010 2:51AM UTC By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is focused on getting more trucks,
surveillance equipment and other military equipment into Afghanistan
to prepare for what will be a critical summer in the war, Defense
Undersecretary Ashton Carter said on Friday. Carter, head of Pentagon acquisition, technology and logistics, said
the success of the war in Afghanistan would depend largely on being
able to get weapons and support services to the U.S. troops headed to
the land-locked country, which he described as "the last place where
you would like to be fighting a war." "This summer is going to be very critical. If we don't get ourselves
in there and get set ... we can't have success," he told a conference
hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, As part of that effort, Carter said he was increasing 20-fold the
number of airships hovering over Afghanistan, providing "eyes in the
sky" to troops on the ground. Equipped with sophisticated cameras and the ability to stream images
to U.S. bases on the ground, the airships would help track any
activity that could jeopardize the troops, including the burying of
roadside bombs. At the same time, the very visible presence of the airships would keep
potential attackers on their guard, Carter said, calling the airships
a more affordable way to maintain surveillance than more-expensive
unmanned airplanes, which are also being deployed in Afghanistan in
large numbers. Carter did not say which airship model would be added. Lockheed Martin Corp builds a 35-meter tethered helium-filled airship
known as Persistent Threat Detection System that has been in use by
the Army since 2004. Nine of the airships are being used in the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lockheed is building eight more airships under a $133 million one-year
contract it won in October 2009, and is in talks with the Army about
additional orders. Another aerostat used by the military is made by Aerostar, a unit of
South Dakota-based Raven Industries Inc, which last month said it had
a tethered airship backlog of more than $10 million. It said the
airships would be paired with surveillance equipment and deployed in
Afghanistan. The unmanned airships will cut the need for risky on-foot missions by
staying in the air much longer and feeding data to commanders through
on-board cameras and sensors. These sensors could also "rewind" after an explosion to find who
planted the bomb and where they went. Carter said the airships would be under the control of local forward
operating bases, not commanders far away, making them a good tool on a
fairly localized basis. He said the Pentagon was also accelerating delivery of hand-held metal
detectors and ground-penetrating radars, as part of an urgent drive to
reduce the number of casualties from road-side bombs or improvised
explosive devices (IEDs). The military was also deploying about 1,000 new armored trucks built
by Oshkosh Corp per month, double the initial rate, Carter said. He said Defense Secretary Robert Gates had told him to "make sure that
we are doing all we can do" to prevent the large number of IED-related
troop deaths and injuries that marked the early years of the Iraq war. The Pentagon was also examining several models of unmanned helicopters
that could be used to get supplies to troops without using dangerous
convoys on the road, he said. At the same time the military is dramatically increasing its presence
in Afghanistan, it was also dealing with the drawdown in Iraq, a major
logistical challenge, Carter said. He said the military had already removed 2.2 million pieces of
military equipment from more than 350 forward operating bases in Iraq
but needed to deal with 1.2 million more pieces by August, deciding if
they should return to the United States, stay in Iraq or go elsewhere
for use in future conflicts. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
From: elyssa.durant@gmail.com
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2010 06:27:44 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Reuters - Pentagon boosting Afghanistan "eyes in the sky"
To: ed70@columbia.edu This article was sent to you from elyssa.durant@gmail.com, who uses
Reuters Mobile Site to get news and information on the go. To access
Reuters on your mobile phone, go to:
http://mobile.reuters.com Pentagon boosting Afghanistan "eyes in the sky" Saturday, Apr 03, 2010 2:51AM UTC By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is focused on getting more trucks,
surveillance equipment and other military equipment into Afghanistan
to prepare for what will be a critical summer in the war, Defense
Undersecretary Ashton Carter said on Friday. Carter, head of Pentagon acquisition, technology and logistics, said
the success of the war in Afghanistan would depend largely on being
able to get weapons and support services to the U.S. troops headed to
the land-locked country, which he described as "the last place where
you would like to be fighting a war." "This summer is going to be very critical. If we don't get ourselves
in there and get set ... we can't have success," he told a conference
hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, As part of that effort, Carter said he was increasing 20-fold the
number of airships hovering over Afghanistan, providing "eyes in the
sky" to troops on the ground. Equipped with sophisticated cameras and the ability to stream images
to U.S. bases on the ground, the airships would help track any
activity that could jeopardize the troops, including the burying of
roadside bombs. At the same time, the very visible presence of the airships would keep
potential attackers on their guard, Carter said, calling the airships
a more affordable way to maintain surveillance than more-expensive
unmanned airplanes, which are also being deployed in Afghanistan in
large numbers. Carter did not say which airship model would be added. Lockheed Martin Corp builds a 35-meter tethered helium-filled airship
known as Persistent Threat Detection System that has been in use by
the Army since 2004. Nine of the airships are being used in the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lockheed is building eight more airships under a $133 million one-year
contract it won in October 2009, and is in talks with the Army about
additional orders. Another aerostat used by the military is made by Aerostar, a unit of
South Dakota-based Raven Industries Inc, which last month said it had
a tethered airship backlog of more than $10 million. It said the
airships would be paired with surveillance equipment and deployed in
Afghanistan. The unmanned airships will cut the need for risky on-foot missions by
staying in the air much longer and feeding data to commanders through
on-board cameras and sensors. These sensors could also "rewind" after an explosion to find who
planted the bomb and where they went. Carter said the airships would be under the control of local forward
operating bases, not commanders far away, making them a good tool on a
fairly localized basis. He said the Pentagon was also accelerating delivery of hand-held metal
detectors and ground-penetrating radars, as part of an urgent drive to
reduce the number of casualties from road-side bombs or improvised
explosive devices (IEDs). The military was also deploying about 1,000 new armored trucks built
by Oshkosh Corp per month, double the initial rate, Carter said. He said Defense Secretary Robert Gates had told him to "make sure that
we are doing all we can do" to prevent the large number of IED-related
troop deaths and injuries that marked the early years of the Iraq war. The Pentagon was also examining several models of unmanned helicopters
that could be used to get supplies to troops without using dangerous
convoys on the road, he said. At the same time the military is dramatically increasing its presence
in Afghanistan, it was also dealing with the drawdown in Iraq, a major
logistical challenge, Carter said. He said the military had already removed 2.2 million pieces of
military equipment from more than 350 forward operating bases in Iraq
but needed to deal with 1.2 million more pieces by August, deciding if
they should return to the United States, stay in Iraq or go elsewhere
for use in future conflicts. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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