JLENS, the Military Surveillance Airship, Is Ready for Action

A year from now, two stark white aerostats will hover over Washington, D.C., a pair of eyes in the sky to detect incoming threats.

After eight years in development, two early user tests, and $2.7 billion, JLENS, the abbreviated title (thankfully) of the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, is ready for deployment.

"We're transitioning from a development program to an actual program where the users are coming in and operating the system," JLENS program director Doug Burgess said during a press conference Wednesday morning.

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