Newsweek– At first glance, there was nothing special about the blimp floating high above the cars and crowd at this year’s Indy 500 on Memorial Day weekend. Like most airships, it acted as an advertising vehicle; this time for the Fisher House, a charity focused on helping injured veterans and their families. But the real promo should have been for the blimp’s creator, Raytheon, the security company best known for its weapons systems. Hidden inside the 55-foot-long white balloon was a powerful surveillance camera adapted from the technology Raytheon provides the U.S. military. Essentially an unmanned drone, the blimp transmitted detailed images to the race’s security officers and to Indiana police. “The airship is great because it doesn’t have that Big Brother feel, or create feelings of invasiveness,” says Lee Silvestre, vice president of mission innovation in Raytheon’s Integrated Defense division.
After the success of the Indy 500 trial, the company is targeting police departments and sporting facilities that want to keep an eye on crowds that might easily morph into an unruly mob. “Large municipalities could find many uses for this [technology] once we figure out how to get it in their hands,” says Nathan Kennedy, the blimp’s project manager.
For now, cost might be the only thing preventing a blimp from appearing over your head. Raytheon won’t disclose how much the system may eventually cost, but chances are it won’t be cheap. Raytheon says local authorities could install a built-in LED screen to attract sponsors, generate revenue and defer operating costs.
But what about privacy and civil-rights concerns? Raytheon argues that its technology is no different than what’s already watching us on a daily basis: street cameras, cop cars, helicopters and foot patrols.
Well, as long as it’s for that war on terror… I’m good with it.
Another reason for me to move to Idaho.
So… all you gun totting guys out there… now you’ve got something to shoot at.
i guess i dont have a problem with them transmitting to the police for security. could help out with my taxes in having less men on the ground. However, giving race security access to these images is wrong. If any of you have been to the indy 500 or brickyard 400, you’ll know that these jokers can’t tell their head from a hole in the ground. How in the world would they spot osama bin laden….
“Large municipalities could find many uses for this [technology] once we figure out how to get it in their hands,” says Nathan Kennedy, the blimp’s project manager.
URBAN TARGET PRACTICE
They normally do this with helicopters during the race and before, when the masses are hurding into the race. If you camp out the night before, you wake up on race day having a Vietnam flash back.
Advertising companies and their lobbyists will fight any government competition in their industry, so government agencies may have to bear the full cost of this technology without ad revenue to defray it.
Hopefully, the software can be tuned to spot unruly 72-year-old grannies who need to be tasered 😉
Nope, not big-brother-ish in the least.
Seems silly but they’ve got to find a way to make more money now that the fascist government gravy train is over. Convince local paranoid security types who value security over liberty (and freedom) that you NEED this violation rights.
But really folks, they aren’t staring at you, they’re just glad to see you! (heheheh).
Sadly, the last sentence says it all: “Raytheon argues that its technology is no different than what’s already watching us on a daily basis: street cameras, cop cars, helicopters and foot patrols.” True, it really is no different and I’d wager that a court would rule that way.
This is awesome. Wonder why we dont employ UAV’s in our cities to check crime? What if there was a net of UAV’s floating perpetually and any incoming 911 call could direct one of these camera’s within seconds to an operator and guide operations? Why not have weapons built on board to shoot the carjacker from 4000ft without having the cops drive across taking minutes??
Technology at its best.
Blimps otta’ be a huge hit in Britain. Here in Canada they would need a lot of testing. Cops would be afraid that a pole with a stapler could take it down.
Time for us to install similar devices to watch the cops in their cars, their offices, and yes, even their locker rooms, after all, people are watching anyway is the argument. These will be paid for with their tax dollars so that we can make sure everyone is safe.
I don’t mind the authorities watching me when I’m in public but it damn well better stop when I’m in my private spaces.
Yeah, and who is watching the authorities?
When you get a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail. Please, all this is so overkill, they will soon be usuing it on law abiding citizens, do to the fact that all this anti terror hardware etc, doesnt have enough legit targets to begin with. But then again its all for our own safety. BLEH :P.
So what needs to happen is someone needs to purchase one of the ads, then use it to explain exactly what the blimp is doing.
http://tinyurl.com/yvel2e
Hey didn’t Blade Runner have blimps roaming through the city? Then there was the movie Black Sunday where the blimp attacked the super bowl. See a pattern here. Its the blimps they are going to take over the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Local government buy/leases it for big event security, but how long before it floats across the city looking for zoning violations. Or parking enforcement.
And maybe somebody can remind me of the big riots that take place at Indy 500. I’m drawing a blank.
I propose Dvorak do a non-leading survey to determine what percentage of his cross-section of the citizenry have even the slightest clue what the U.S.Constitution was intended to accomplish. I suspect it would be less than 5 percent.
Old news. Police departments have used unmanned blimps as surveillance platforms for years. Smile.
Just what the founders envisioned: Treating freedom of assembly as a potential crime.
And the country at the time of our founders was much, much, much more vulnerable to destruction from within and from without than we’ve ever been.
We’ve never been safer, but conservatives keep screaming in terror that we’ve never been more vulnerable.
Maybe Sarah Palin could have Alaska buy one for robotic wolf hunting.
I actually work for this program at Raytheon. The program is called RAID and it is called an aerostat and not a blimp. There are a couple of variants one with the aerostat and one uses a tower. They are mainly used in Iraq and Afghanistan as surveillance systems for military outposts and to counter ieds.
Just smile a lot. I hear it screws up the facial recognition software.
One wonders if someday the inflated characters in the Thanksgiving Day Parades will start having cameras built into them too?
Dick Tracy would be proud.