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PHL Navy receives radar blimp for maritime monitoring

The Philippine Navy on Tuesday received a Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) that will enhance its capability to detect maritime and air traffic in the country's coastal waters.

A donation from the Joint US Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG), the TARS is currently at the Naval Education and Training Command in San Antonio, Zambales, where JUSMAG chief Colonel Ernest Lee handed over the radar blimp's documents of donation to the Navy's Flag Officer In Command, Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado.

US Deputy Embassy Chief of Mission to the Philippines Michael Klecheski witnessed the turnover.

According to the Navy, the balloon-borne radar system will enhance its Maritime Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance and provide telemetry data to the ground station such as ambient temperature, pressure, and wind speed.

The Philippine News Agency also reports that the TARS will also be used in disaster response operations and humanitarian assistance. — BM, GMA News