Thanks for the posting. I am one of the last kids on the block here (i.e. a recent newcomer when compared to you especially) but today is the best day I have seen on this board in terms of quality of the info shared.
I have gone through the article "Balloons in Today's Military" and downloaded the PDF file. Sanswire is in the article but NOT in the PDF file. Somebody has been updating the info since last December! And keeping an eye on SS.....
Now the army tends to be pretty conservatavite in their appproach to things. They do not like to be laughed at.....But now there is a definite change of perceptions across the board and they are saying it loud
Quote"
Jump forward 2,222 years: what would you say if we told you the US military was seriously considering augmenting its intelligence-gathering and communications infrastructures with helium-filled balloons? You would probably say we were crazy. However, it is true, and once we get past the “giggle factor,” we think you will agree that the concept has a lot of merit. Like Hannibal, our leaders also know the value of a robust intelligence network, meteorology, long-range communications, and the inherent advantages of owning the high ground, and we are moving out sharply to capitalize in this regime."Unquote.
They have become true believers in "those floating things up there". It can be a measure of how serious (and desperate) the situation is out there in Irak. The military has been overstreched for a long time now.
Quote "Stratfor, July 06, 2004 By George Friedman
Summary
The U.S. Department of Defense is now activating the Army's Individual Ready Reserve for combat duty. Given the inherent problems associated with such a move, it is clear that U.S. war planners were caught in a trap: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's "revolution in warfare" has not evolved as expected."Unquote.
The message is we want these things up there ASAP, we need them badly. Let's do it now and funding is not a problem (nilremerl Post #of 22785: U.S. Unmanned Aerial Systems Market to Reach 17 Billion in Five Years).
Now what if GTE looses Skydragon to the military-industrial complex, the like of LM and NG? This would be a disaster. We need to know more where we stand in relation to SS partnership with Skydragon.
Any takers?
AI
