The Air Force reportedly has yet to decide on the precise
payload of the floating brain. The options are limited
by the volume of data that would be collected and stored
in the onboard computers.
Such surveillance is already conducted by a squadron
of various planes and other flying machines; however,
the idea is that this one craft, Blue Devil, will coordinate
and consolidate those mission-critical activities into
one enormous central control unit.
The computer brain that crunches the data collected by
Blue Devil will then be parceled out to the appropriate
data-gathering device: camera, microphone, remote listening
apparatus, etc. and more precisely direct each where to
train its electronic eyes. This crucial data, once sifted
and sorted, will be sent to human intelligence agents
(ground troops, for example) in as little as 15 seconds.
Well, that is the goal.
“It could change the nature of overhead surveillance,”
says Lt. General David A. Deptula, former Air Force Deputy
Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.
In 2009, the initial build-up to Blue Devil began with
the shipment of four modified executive airplanes to Afghanistan,
each equipped with an impressive battery of surveillance
equipment.
The construction of the blimp itself will be the next
phase of the Blue Devil project. Reports indicate that
the ship will be lighter than traditional aircraft and
will be longer than a football field, seven times the
size of the Goodyear Blimp at 1.4 million cubic feet.
The Air Force is hopeful that the enormity of the airship
(referred to on some websites as the MAV6) will provide
for enough fuel and helium to keep the thing aloft for
as long as a week at a time and at almost four miles in
altitude.
