US Air Force works on plan for near-space vehicle

Posted on: Dec. 15th, 2004 || Source: cnn.netscape.cnn.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Top U.S. Air Force officials are working on a strategy to put surveillance aircraft in "near space," the no man's land above 65,000 feet but below an outer space orbit, Air Force chief of staff Gen. John Jumper said on Tuesday.

Jumper said he would meet next Tuesday with the head of the Air Force Space Command, Gen. Lance Lord, to map out plans to get lighter-than-air vehicles into that region above the earth, where they could play a vital role in surveillance over trouble spots like Iraq.

Jumper said the Air Force was working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, to develop a stealthy aircraft without metal that could be equipped with special sensors and remain in the air for months at a time, keeping a watchful eye on specific regions of concern.

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