Lockheed unmanned blimp crashes -

PITTSBURGH— An unmanned, remote controlled airship, launched from Akron, Ohio, crash landed Wednesday morning, just outside of Pittsburgh, Pa.

The High Altitude Long Endurance-Demonstrator, also known as HALE-D, was designed by Lockheed Martin, based out of Akron.

It launched just before 6:00 a.m. at the air dock in Akron.

"It was huge, it was massive! It was also as big as the hangar," said Kailee Thompson of Akron. Kailee and her dad witnessed the launch.

"I've lived here 38 years, and I've never seen anything like this before," added her dad, Richard Thompson.

"When it took off, there wasn't any sound because it's not motored. But there was a lot of joy from people down at airport when it let it off! They were clapping and real excited," said Kailee.

According to Lockheed, the airship reached an altitude of approximately 32,000 feet, however, a technical anomaly prevented the airship from attaining its target altitude of 60,000 feet.

That is when the HALE-D team decided to terminate the flight.

The aircraft crash landed into the woods just after before 8:30 a.m. in Greene County, Pa.

"Wow! They crashed it already? A million dollar tin foil ball is laying in Pennsylvania? Great, wonderful, our tax money at work," said Ray Ficere, of Akron.

"Guess they can try again! Doesn't matter if it fails if they got that much money to throw away!" added Pete Crums of Arkon.

Lockheed Martin is in the process of recovering the airship and will conduct a full evaluation.

They say the airship was supposed to land in central Ohio and was never going to be used again.

Lockheed Martin says they are pushing the boundaries of aviation, and have learned a valuable lesson.
Copyright © 2011, WJW-TV

 

"UFO" captured on Dallas tower cam

Editor's note: I'm thinking bug ...



Early on the morning of Monday, July 25, 2011, a local NBC affiliate in Fort Worth, Texas captured images of a UFO on their tower camera. The unidentified flying object appeared as an erraticaly moving spot of light on the upper right hand corner of the video.

According to Bruce Felps, the owner/operator of the East Dallas Times: "Speculation in the NBC DFW newsroom ranged from bug to UFO." Comments on the video indicate that some local residents witnessed the same, or similar, phenomena nearby. Others seem to embrace the theory that the unidentified object was actually light reflected off an insect.

READ THE FULL STORY AT THE EXAMINER!

"Yellow Jacket" flies ...

Aviation Week ARES BLOG:

Posted by Amy Butler at 7/22/2011 12:42 PM CDT

Boeing is apparently developing a new fused intelligence system called the "Yellow Jacket" for potential use in the insurgent fight in Afghanistan.

Army Lt. Col. Dean Hoffman, product manager for the service's Medium-Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System, mentioned today in a telecon with reporters on the Boeing-led Emarss program that the company's work on this Yellow Jacket had provided lessons.

Yellow Jacket first flew July 13, and another nine flights are slated in the coming weeks. It is thought the program may be a rotorcraft designed to carry a payload capable of fusing multiple intelligence systems -- such as Masint, sigint and imint. But, I haven't gotten official confirmation of the program or its mission.

Perhaps the buzz at Boeing isn't just around the Hornet family (sorry ... a bad joke was begging to be made).

Meanwhile, Hoffman formally announced the Army's June 16 decision to lift the stop work order on Boeing's $323 million Emarss contract. Originally issued in November, the past nine months have been consumed by protests from losing bidders L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin/Sierra Nevada and Northrop Grumman.

The GAO's final decision can be found here.

The original Emarss program called for fielding the first aircraft 18 months after contract award; nearly nine months have passed owing to the protests. Hoffman says they are reassessing how soon they can get the aircraft fielded, but he is hoping to deliver the soldiers a "Christmas present in the late 2012/early 2013 time frame."

Note: Yellow Jacket is suspected to be a drone designed to help detect improvised explosive devices.

Afghan militants slammed ...

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- At least 80 militants were killed in a series of operations involving Afghan and NATO forces during a day-long firefight last week in the country's restive southeast, Paktika provincial governor Mukhlas Afghan said Sunday.

NATO said it could only confirm 50 insurgents were killed in the fight.
The operation, which began Wednesday and spanned the night into Thursday, was fought in an "known Haqqani network" area.

The Haqqani network is an insurgent group loosely affiliated with the Taliban and is believed to be based in Pakistan's lawless frontier territories.
The raid included Afghan special forces and engaged "multiple groups of insurgents" who were armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and heavy machine guns, NATO's International Security Assistance Force reported Friday.

Multiple insurgent groups were holed up in areas that included caves and fortified bunker positions, ISAF said.

Sunday's announcement coincides with formal ceremonies marking the handover of security to Afghan forces in parts of Kabul and Panjshir province.
They are the fifth and sixth areas to be transferred to national forces.

Kim Jong Il's new weapon ...