WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is set to float two surveillance blimps 10,000 feet up to guard against ballistic missiles.
Starting in October, the blimps — equipped with radar to detect missile launches from possible adversaries — will fly above the Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, about 45 miles northeast of Washington, DC, as part of a test of the technology, the Army confirmed Friday.
The high-flying craft have been used in Iraq, Afghanistan and on the Mexican border and are capable of identifying flying objects as far as 340 miles away.
Assessing the missile threat, a military officer told CBS, “As it stands today, we have practically zero capability to detect it, much less defend against it.”
Civil-liberties groups worry the blimps could become another vehicle for snooping, though the Pentagon denies they would be equipped with cameras to monitor Americans.