A bit more about a Blimp:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... s-in-south
Airships to fight insurgents in the South?
Writer: Veera Prateepchaikul
Published: 15/09/2009 at 01:54 PM
While use of the more effective closed circuit security cameras in monitoring activities of suspected southern insurgents is sadly lagging, the army has opted for a costly new toy, surveillance airships whose effectiveness in dealing with urban guerrilla warfare is highly questionable.
Thanks to the surveillance cameras, police were able to identify one of the two suspects responsible for the car bomb in front of the Suan Kluay restaurant in Narathiwat's municipal area on Aug 25, which left more than 40 lunchtime customers injured.
The suspect, Amran Ming, was caught by one of the surveillance cameras entering the restaurant and then leaving shortly before the car bomb exploded. The 50kg explosive device was hidden inside an LPG tank In a pick-up truck.
Amran Ming is still at large and is wanted for a string of criminal offences, including the murder of two female teachers in Janeh district of Narathiwat on June 2, the killing of two land officials in Bacho district of Narathiwat and several bomb attacks.
Sadly, only about 10 per cent of the 3,500 surveillance cameras planned for five southern provinces, and scheduled to be completely installed last November, have actually been installed. Of those which have been set up, several of them are not functioning. The plan was for 990 surveillance cameras in Pattani, 596 cameras in Yala, 1,028 in Narathiwat, 32 in Satun and 874 in Songkhla.
The delay in the project prompted the Ministry of Interior to cancel the 969 million baht contract awarded to DRC company. A new contractor has yet to be chosen to complete the task.
To supplement the (incomplete) ground-based camera network, the army has acquired a surveillance airship at a cost of 350 million baht, and it has already been deployed in the strife-torn deep South. The Aeros 40D Sky Dragon airship certified by the FAA of the United States is equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance cameras capable of night operation. It can float in the air at an altitude beyond the range of small arms such as M16 assault rifles and RPGs.
The army is in the process of buying two more of the airships from the US-based Aeros company.
The procurement project was supported by army commander-in-chief Gen Anupong Paojinda and Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, the army chief-of-staff who was recently promoted to deputy army chief, despite loud reservations about the suitability of the airships voiced by several critics, who included army officers.
The most-asked questions are whether the use of an airship is worth the cost, and is it suited to the terrain in the restive provinces and to the kind of urban guerrilla warfare being waged by the insurgents - although airships have been deployed with considerable effectiveness in other theatres of war such as Afghanistan.
Critics asked how a slow-moving airship could keep track of small bands of insurgents which do not have fixed bases and are constantly on the move, even though its superb hawk-eyed cameras can see clearly from a great distance.
Also, the insurgents' targets are mostly in densely populated communities, not in open terrain or desert as in Afghanistan.
Despite these reservations, it appears there is no stopping the army acquiring more airships to use against the insurgents' urban warfare tactics - characterised mainly by car bombs, roadside bombs, drive-by shootings and ambushes.
The army has yet to explain its costly strategy.
