Maryland will soon have two $14 billion giant surveillance blimps watching over the state.

[jakeXT]

The U.S. Army will launch the first of two blimps within the next week as part of their project called JLENS, which stands for Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System.

The JLENS will defend against cruise missiles and it'll be able to track anything from cars to boats that are within an estimated 268,820-square-mile area — basically the size of Texas. The radars have raised privacy concerns among many, including the American Civil Liberties Union.

"If we're going to have massive blimps hovering over civilians areas, or within radar-shot of civilian areas, then we need some very ironclad checks and balances that will provide confidence that there's no domestic surveillance going on," said Jay Stanley, privacy expert for the American Civil Liberties Union, in an interview with The Intercept.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/u-s-army-launch-2-missile-surveillance-blimps-md-article-1.2049862

[kelly1mm]

1. Since the blimps cover an area the size of Texas, I would say Conneticut down to sourth Carolina and

west to Ohio will be watched over.

This country is going in the wrong direction on this at least since 9/11, if not way before. This is one of the things I was hoping would change with President Obama. Alas ........

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. ...