Essential Guide to the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) Tethered Aerostat System - Blimp Detached from Mooring at Aberdeen Proving Grounds October 2015

This is a print replica reproduction of a group of 23 military documents about the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) Tethered Aerostat System. The system was in the news on October 28, 2015 when the JLENS Surveillance System aerostat detached from its mooring station at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. The aerostat ascended from 6,600 feet to 16,000 feet prior to deflating. Two F-16 Fighter jets from Atlantic City Air National Guard Base monitored the JLENS Surveillance System aerostat as it drifted northward over Pennsylvania. It landed in a rugged, wooded area in northeast Pennsylvania. JLENS is part of a three year NORAD exercise. A JLENS system consists of two aerostats: a fire control radar system and a surveillance radar system. Each radar system employs a separate 74-meter (243 feet long) tethered aerostat, a mobile mooring station, radar and communications payloads, a processing station, and associated ground support equipment.

JLENS is a supporting program of the Army and Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense, providing persistent, over-the-horizon radar surveillance and fire control quality data on Army and Joint Networks. It enables protection from a wide variety of threats to include manned and unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles, and surface moving targets like swarming boats and tanks. A JLENS system consists of two aerostats: a fire control radar system and a wide-area surveillance radar system. Each radar system employs a separate 74-meter (243 feet long) tethered aerostat, a mobile mooring station, radar and communications payloads, a processing station, and associated ground support equipment. The JLENS aerostat will fly at an altitude of up to 10,000 feet above sea level.

JLENS uses advanced sensor and networking technologies to provide persistent, 360-degree, wide-area surveillance and precision tracking of Land Attack Cruise Missiles and other types of Air Breathing Threats. This information is distributed via joint service networks and provides fire control quality data to Surface-to-Air missile systems such as Army Patriot and Navy Aegis, increasing the weapons' capabilities by allowing systems to engage targets normally below, outside, or beyond surface-based weapons' field of view. JLENS also provides fire control quality data to fighter aircraft allowing them to engage hostile threats from extended ranges, and contributes to the development of a single integrated air picture. A JLENS orbit consists of two systems: a fire control radar system and a wide-area surveillance radar system. Each radar system employs a separate 74-meter tethered aerostat, mobile mooring station, radar and communications payload, processing station, and associated ground support equipment. The systems are designed to work together, but can operate independently. The JLENS orbit is transportable by road, rail, sea, and air.

Using these aerostats moored at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, we will take the radar data these platforms provide and integrate it into our NCR air defenses, as well as the larger NORAD air defense architecture. Assessing JLENS’ capability to enhance our surveillance capabilities is important to determine the best way forward to protect against a potential cruise missile threat from near-peer adversaries. We appreciate the support of Congress for full funding of the JLENS FY16 President’s Budget request to keep the operational exercise on track and on schedule.