WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Oct. 13, 2004) -- A persistent stare at a member of the opposite sex could earn you a slap, but commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan are praising the “persistent stare” capability of JLENS RAID, according to Army officials.

Army officials briefed members of the Pentagon media Oct. 7 about the sensors, towers, aerostats and a contracted lighter-than-air craft being tested under the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System/Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment, referred to as JLENS RAID, proof of concept demonstration.

The capability of the raised sensors to view terrain a good distance away from fixed Army locations for long periods of time has been proven successful as a force protection measure both in Afghanistan and Iraq recently, said Col. Kurt Heine, JLENS program manager. Due to security concerns, Heine said he could not give specific examples of the RAID system in combat, but reported that commanders really liked its capabilities.

“Imagine, if you will, that you can see people (and) cars from afar in the dark when you couldn’t before,” Heine said in reference to RAID combat successes.

The RAID system has been in use in several locations in Afghanistan since spring 2003 and in Iraq for about nine months. Two systems have also been used to support Navy force protection in the Central Command area under “Operation Code Blue.”

The key component of the system is the sensor -- basically a television camera with zoom lens, infrared for viewing at night and a laser range finder, Heine said.

The area the system can cover is dependent on terrain and height -- the higher, the better, Heine said.

Most of the systems currently being used are on towers. The Army has 19 RAID towers. They are a mix of 84-foot quick-erect and 30-foot and 60-foot telescope mast towers.

The Army is also using three15-meter aerostats -- large blimp-shaped, helium-filled balloons -- which are tethered to its truck transports to get the RAID sensor above the battlefield. Some of the aerostats have taken enemy fire without any major mishap, Heine said. “We just patched it up, topped it off with helium and sent it back up,” he said.

However raised, the sensor is networked to a Base Defense Operations Cell. The cell has monitors that show what the camera sensor is looking at and a digitized map with overlays with an icon depicting the map location of what the sensor is focused on.

Asked why RAID may be a better option than the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle when it can basically provided the same information, an assistant secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology official said it was a matter of perspective.

Whatever system does it -- UAV, manned aircraft or RAIDS -- this capability needs to be done,” said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, deputy for Systems Management and Horizontal Technology Integration, ASALT. “Manned aircraft and UAVs can only stay up there for so long before they have to come down. When you look at fuel costs and the number of people needed to maintain the other systems, this system is cheaper.”

Using the RAIDS for force protection at fixed locations can free up manned aircraft and UAVs for other missions beyond the fixed location, Sorenson said.

A contracted manned lighter-than-air ship demonstrated RAIDS capabilities for Pentagon and national decision makers in Washington, D.C. area in early October.

(Editor’s note: See related ARNEWS article, Army tests blimp as eye in the sky.)