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The Skyship 600 blimp is part of a $1.6 million collaborative test project conducted by the Navy, Coast Guard and newly created National Office of Global Maritime Situational Awareness, The Miami Herald reported Saturday.

Officials say they want to determine in a six-week experiment whether the blimp, which is powered by two turbo-charge Porsche engines, can provide the surveillance information efficiently and economically.

The blimp has been equipped with radar, sensors and infrared cameras to provide six weeks of surveillance of the Straits, the newspaper said.

Navy Capt. Robert Dishman, the airship program manager, said the Navy's P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft burns 600 to 700 gallons of aviation fuel per hour. By comparison, the blimp burns just 10 gallons per hour.

The blimp is owned and operated by Airship Management Services of Greenwich, Conn. It is landing and taking off from Naval Air Station Key West.

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