Missile-detection tests set for 2010
The project's short title is JLENS, which stands for Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, a technology that uses balloons along with sensitive radars to give ground troops information about the speed and location of enemy missiles.
The tests are expected to use drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, and not live missiles, which, if the system works correctly, would be shot down before they reach their target.
Application of JLENS could be for homeland security in places like New York or Washington or it could be used in a combat theater, according to JLENS program manager Christopher Johnson.
"This test will prove whether or not this technology works," Johnson said on the phone.
Actual testing of JLENS on the UTTR in Utah's west desert is expected to begin in 2010. The tests will include use of two aerostats, which are 74-meter long tethered helium-filled balloons that look like blimps. Those traveling along I-80 closer to Wendover may actually be able to see the aerostats from the road.
Johnson said that during the build-up to the tests there will be a lot of government contractors staying in and around the Salt Lake City area.
For the test, the Army needs lots of space and chose the Rhode-Island sized Dugway and the adjacent UTTR because of its 19,000-plus square miles of restricted "special use" air space.
Hill personnel will be used to help build landing pads for the aerostats, construct needed buildings, to clear air space over the UTTR during tests and even to feed soldiers working on the test. Overall, it's expected that around $34 million will be spent on the tests in Utah for a system that Johnson said will cost "several billion."
Currently, no one is asking for state funds for JLENS. However, the Army still needs to navigate the state's environmental laws before tests can begin. "We've not run into any glitches," Johnson said.
An environmental assessment of the project is still in draft form. The assessment should be published next month and then be available for public comment.
And even though the JLENS tests may not have a noticeable impact on any nearby Indian reservations, Dugway officials have already included key American Indians in their discussions of the tests.
"There hasn't been any complaint," said JLENS deputy program manager Jennifer Christensen. "Out of respect to tribal leaders, we've made it a point to keep them involved."
The closest tribal lands to Dugway and the UTTR belong to the Goshute Indians.
Christensen said the current proposal is for classroom training on soldiers' use of JLENS to take place either at Dugway or a base in Oklahoma. That training is expected to begin in 2012.
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com
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