India to have 'giant eyes' in the skies

[RPK]

India to have 'giant eyes' in the skies | Department of Science and Technology (DST) | | Indian Express



BANGALORE: It will be India's eyes in the sky, the ones that from 70,000 feet can keep tabs over the entire Indian subcontinent.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is developing an indigenous unmanned High Altitude Airship (HAA) - a towering Zeppelinlike aircraft - to closely monitor the country's coastline, borders and the Maoist "red corridor", said a scientist associated with the project.

Former Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment Director, Dr M L Sidana, who is overseeing the DST-funded project told Express that the HAA can be used for resource mapping, safeguarding high-value off shore assets and disaster management.

The airship will be powered by solar panels and will have regenerating fuel cells which will make it operational during night also.

"The National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) has been asked to prepare a feasibility study, which has been completed and will be shortly submitted to the DST. Following the approval, a Technology Demonstrator weighing about 50 kg will be built and later we can go for the production of the final version that can carry payloads weighing 2,000 kg," said Sidana.

The HAA will place India in the select club of US, Japan, Korea, UK, Switzerland and Germany.

Sidana said by placing 15 to 20 airships, the entire Indian subcontinent can be under surveillance, as one airship can survey land area of 600 km from a height of 21 km.

The HAA will be placed at a geostationary position and would have capabilities similar to a satellite at fraction of the cost, said Jitendra Singh, an NAL scientist who is part of the project.

"As the airship will be very close to the earth's surface, it can capture and send data quickly compared to other surveillance systems. The HAAs can also be used for antisubmarine warfare and airborne early warning as it can help in ballistic or cruise missile defence with its ability to send images in quick time," said Singh.

 

[lionheart1]

self deleted

 

[Alex1]

Cloud formation & natural disaster early warning

 

[seljuki]

so in order to counter these eyes.. one has to shine a very strong light in these eyes...

in other words... mobile giant mirrors

 

[Patrician]

so in order to counter these eyes.. one has to shine a very strong light in these eyes...

in other words... mobile giant mirrors

Does anything like that exist? Do enlighten us.

By the way, welcome to

 

[seljuki]

maybe they exist. maybe they just need to be constructed.. everything has a countermeasure

 

[jha]

Do you have any idea what will that do to the low flying objects...??

 

[seljuki]

they would be adjustable and can be directed as necessary...

dont need to be shining in there all the time.. only when needed

such as during times of war to disguise troop movements... to blind the enemy..

or during important weapons transfers.

 

[Patrician]

they would be adjustable and can be directed as necessary...

dont need to be shining in there all the time.. only when needed

such as during times of war to disguise troop movements... to blind the enemy..

or during important weapons transfers.

Oh bhai mere, won't the enemy 'blast' before going 'blind'?

Is this in some research or just in your mind?

 

[seljuki]

its an enemy detection countermeasure... enemies dont strike before knowing the location of their enemy.. so if they are blinded beforehand .. they cannot "blast" as u claim. it will be like fighting blindfolded with greater probability of missing the punches.

 

[jha]

What a plan it is..use giant mirrors to blind something which is 70,000 feet away..

 

[seljuki]

yes. it can be done.

even in World War II, Germans had planned to use a giant lens in space to focus sun rays onto any country and destroy it using immense heat. they even calculated its distance, length and material..

that was world war 2.. nothing is impossible.

with the correct calculations,those giant mirrors CAN be built and will completely blind the eye in the sky.

 

[Patrician]

yes. it can be done.

even in World War II, Germans had planned to use a giant lens in space to focus sun rays onto any country and destroy it using immense heat. they even calculated its distance, length and material..

that was world war 2.. nothing is impossible.

with the correct calculations,those giant mirrors CAN be built and will completely blind the eye in the sky.

It is not a plausible idea at least with today's technology.

You have any research/source to back up your claim?

 

[airuah]

yes. it can be done.

even in World War II, Germans had planned to use a giant lens in space to focus sun rays onto any country and destroy it using immense heat. they even calculated its distance, length and material..

that was world war 2.. nothing is impossible.

with the correct calculations,those giant mirrors CAN be built and will completely blind the eye in the sky.

placing something in space is different from placing mirrors on the earth......do you think placing a mirror at a distance of 21000 meters from a air ship will prevent its view? ...air ship can survey 600km at a time.......and the air ship will also be slightly manuverable....so your mirror will not have any effect other that pointing to where stome stuff is going on......and how do you plan to direct the mirror towards something that is so far off ...even if you do manage you will not know the angulation of the camera's placed on it hanse will still be a futile attempt....

 

[seljuki]

placing something in space is different from placing mirrors on the earth......do you think placing a mirror at a distance of 21000 meters from a air ship will prevent its view? ...air ship can survey 600km at a time.......and the air ship will also be slightly manuverable....so your mirror will not have any effect other that pointing to where stome stuff is going on......and how do you plan to direct the mirror towards something that is so far off ...even if you do manage you will not know the angulation of the camera's placed on it hanse will still be a futile attempt....

wrong concept.. its not like firing a bullet at the system. its just shining light... when the camera from the system will be directed towards that place... all it will see will be a blinding light.

we dont need to blind the camera actively.. we only need to blind it when it is directed at the place which we dont want the camera to see.

so in other words, the camera will automatically be blinded when it turns to view the desired area.

therefore it will be like you looking at the ground one minute and seeing and then you turn to look at a light bulb only to find that its light is blinding your eyes.