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Big balloon over north Edmonton carries army camera
By SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 18th September 2009, 12:06pm
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2009/09/18/10980806.html
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Big balloon over north Edmonton carries army camera
By SUN MEDIA
Last Updated: 18th September 2009, 12:06pm
http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/edmonton/2009/09/18/10980806.html
A massive white balloon with an onboard camera is keeping watch over north Edmonton as part of army training efforts to detect insurgents planting bombs.
The balloon will remain over north Edmonton until the end of the month as part of an ongoing training exercise to observe, deter and defeat insurgents in Afghanistan who plant Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
"If you can see it, it can see you,” said Capt. Robert Dona, the officer responsible for ensuring the system works.
The camera sends a steady stream of images down to computers on the ground where technicians monitor what the unblinking lens sees.
Fourteen Canadian Forces soldiers learning to use the system completed a week of classroom lectures last week and are now conducting the practical aspects of their training.
The balloon is one component of an elaborate package which, when combined is known as The Persistent Surveillance System (PSS).
According to Maj. Thomas Lee, head of the Aerospace Coordination Cell, 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group, residents near CFB Edmonton may see the balloon intermittently in the sky over the garrison while the training lasts.