Goodyear Blimp to Become Drug War ‘Spy in the Sky’

A Goodyear blimp, frequently deployed to peer down on ballparks with television cameras, has been enlisted for temporary spy duty in the government’s war against drug smugglers.

With some nervousness, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. agreed Monday to fly the airship along the Texas Gulf Coast so that U.S. Customs Service agents on board can try to spot smugglers’ boats during a one-week test.

The test is part of an ambitious program, already given start-up funds by Congress, to use radar-equipped blimps to fight smuggling of cocaine and marijuana along several coastlines, including Southern California’s. In a related program, the Customs Service plans to mount radar on six balloons tethered along the Mexican border in hopes of spotting thousands of drug-laden planes that now escape detection.

Goodyear and the Customs Service had hoped to keep the Texas trial run secret out of concern that publicity would make the slow-moving, low-flying blimp a target for sharpshooters. Customs spokesman Dennis Murphy, who said the timing of the test will not be announced, warned Thursday that agents will have rifles to “shoot back if we’re fired upon.”

Goodyear, a major government contractor that operates four blimps for public relations purposes, has agreed to absorb the $50,000 cost of the test. It has also agreed to flash an anti-drug message on the blimps’ huge electronic signboards when they fly over ballgames and other public events. Murphy said the message probably would read: “You can help! Report drug smuggling. Call 800-BE ALERT.”

Thomas Riley, manager of Goodyear’s airship operations, said this was the most unusual request the company had received for using one of its blimps.

“We’re associated with sporting events, parades, public service messages--all-Americana stuff,” he said. “We’ve never been spy in the sky. This kind of throws a different light on things.”

To Fly at 500 Feet

He said there was concern that the blimp’s cab, which houses crew and passengers, would provide little protection against attacks from the ground. During the customs test, the airship will cruise at an altitude of 400 to 500 feet and a speed of about 35 m.p.h.

There was less concern about possible puncturing of the blimp’s helium-filled envelope, Riley said, because helium is not explosive and holes caused by flying stones and pecking birds have resulted in little loss of lift.

Rep. Glenn English (D-Okla.), a key congressional overseer of customs operations, said he doubts that the test will have much value unless it employs sophisticated radar that can look down at targets and, with infrared “vision,” make out the shape of boats in the dark.

“Just sending people up in a dirigible with a pair of binoculars is not going to give us a good operational test,” said English, chairman of a House Government Operations subcommittee, who began pushing for surveillance blimps after seeking new drug-fighting ideas from customs officials in California.

Use of Radar Uncertain

Murphy and Riley were unclear about whether radar would be used in the test, saying the equipment might be too heavy for the blimp unless a signboard and other paraphernalia were removed.

Congress has appropriated $1.6 million for a six-month trial of a radar-equipped blimp, recommending that it be conducted over “major-threat” waters stretching from San Diego south along the Baja California coast of Mexico.

However, two potential bidders--Goodyear and Airship Industries Ltd. in partnership with Westinghouse Electric Corp.--have told the government that at least $3 million would be needed for such a test, English said. Thus, an additional $1.4-million appropriation is listed in an omnibus anti-drug package being assembled by Democrats.

A blimp would be equipped with “forward-looking infrared radar,” allowing customs agents to look at a TV screen at night and see “not only a radar blip but the shape and maybe even the name of a boat” within an 82-mile radius, said a congressional aide who requested anonymity. Using powerful new radios and patrol boats also provided for in the anti-drug package, customs agents would try to intercept suspected smugglers.

High-Speed Boats

“Right now, smugglers in high-speed boats go several miles off the Mexican coast, head north and come into San Diego harbor. They are virtually impossible to detect and identify at this point,” the aide said.

The government’s new interest in blimps goes beyond the drug war. The Navy is developing high-flying, radar-equipped blimps to provide much earlier warning for U.S. ships against missile, plane and submarine attacks. A Goodyear subsidiary is one of three bidders for a Navy contract that could involve up to 100 blimps at a cost of $6.5 billion.