Replies to post #153790 on World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[coastiretired]

Probably the TARS program. . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethered_Aerostat_Radar_System

The Coast Guard used a similar platform back in the 80's for counter drug ops. It consisted of an Aerostat that was tethered at 15,000 ft to a T-AGOS vessel. They mostly operated in the choke point of the Windward Passage where one vessel could provide complete coverage between Hispaniola and Cuba. It provided radar data, target tracking history, and an IM service where CICs that were linked into the system could send each other messages. If the history showed a contact was moving North, the odds were pretty good that the vessel would be boarded and I would be on the team doing the boarding.
http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/aerostat.asp