Army floats an idea: use of blimps

WASHINGTON -- In the middle of a cornfield in Maryland, a blimp glided in for a landing.

Eight men grabbed two long guide ropes that dragged them along, their heels dug in, until the blimp halted, hovering a foot off the ground.

The US Army believes scenes such as this one might be as much about the future as a quaint reenactment of a bygone time.

That is why the Army has leased a blimp from the nation's only airship manufacturer, outfitted it with sensors and cameras, and is conducting test runs over the Washington area.

The tests are designed to determine how effective the electro-optical and infrared cameras are at detecting potentially threatening movements on the ground. The equipment already is used in Iraq and Afghanistan to identify enemy troop movement; it is attached to a static inflatable device that looks like a giant, blimp-shaped balloon.

The prospect that a helium-filled blimp is an idea whose time has come again is increasingly being considered by people charged with defending troops overseas and the nation's borders at home.

Among the interested agencies is the Department of Homeland Security. Unmanned drones are already used along the border with Mexico. The agency thinks blimps might be equally useful.