UPI, Washington: The U.S. Army is preparing to test an early warning system designed to detect chemical and biological agents released by aircraft.
Known as Canadian River 9, the Homeland Defense Department's aircraft aerosol release early warning system will be tested in the vicinity of Oklahoma City beginning Sunday and continuing until Aug. 22.
The Army's Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical Biological Defense, or JPEO-CBD, with the cooperation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lincoln Laboratory, Federal Aviation Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, will use a Cessna 188 AgWagon crop duster and a Cessna 182 aircraft in 40 trials to disseminate water or clay dust (kaolin), a harmless material.
Chemical and biological stimulants are routinely used in detection and protection capability studies conducted by the JPEO-CBD. Kaolin and water have been selected to represent possible threats, while protecting human health and the environment, officials said.
Previous testing conducted druing 2003 and earlier this year produced favorable results.
Those tests were designed to provide information on the feasibility and current capability of commonly used radars to provide an early warning system for aircraft aerosol release events.
