"Military officials hope the $500,000 system will prevent..."
washingtonpost.com Lasers To Signal Airspace Breaches Sky in Region to Be Constantly Scanned By Sara Kehaulani Goo Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, April 16, 2005; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A57641-2005Apr15?language=printer
The U.S. military will begin using an elaborate network of cameras and lasers next month to scan the sky over Washington and flash colored warning beams at aircraft that enter the nation's most restricted metropolitan airspace.
About a dozen high-powered cameras at unidentified locations will be able to zoom in on an airplane anywhere in the restricted airspace, which covers a 30 mile radius around each of the Washington area's three major airports. Red and green laser beams attached to the cameras will then warn the aircraft to leave the area.
The new warning system will allow North American Aerospace Defense Command officials to constantly scan the area from facilities thousands of miles away, using radars and the infrared cameras with 360-degree capability. Local pilots said they supported the effort but were concerned that many pilots would not be able to understand what the laser beams mean unless the government launches an intensive education effort.
Military officials hope the $500,000 system will prevent the kind of scare that occurred last year, when a plane carrying the governor of Kentucky sparked an evacuation of the Capitol after its transponder failed to work. They also hope to reduce the number of daily breaches of the airspace, which have resulted in hundreds of pilots temporarily losing their licenses. Pilots who fail to heed the new signals could be shot down by fighter jets. <...>
The system would improve on today's method for patrolling the region, which relies on FAA and military air traffic controllers scanning the sky with radar that identifies the location of aircraft.
If controllers can't identify or contact an aircraft in Washington's Air Defense Identification Zone, the plane is intercepted by Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopters and Air Force fighter jets, which sometimes drop flares to get the pilot's attention.
Lt. Col. Bob Hehemann of NORAD said the flare system has not always been effective. "We determined that at times, pilots of these planes were unaware they had a fighter on their left wing," Hehemann said.
After flares were dropped, some pilots still did not get it. "We interviewed one pilot . . . he thought it was an impressive light show." <...>