After 9/11, Washington, D.C.’s airspace got a significant security boost. 

Now, over two decades later, this system is getting a cutting-edge makeover. 

The National Capital Region (NCR) is rolling out an advanced artificial intelligence-based visual recognition system that’s taking air defense to a whole new level.

The new eyes in the sky

The Enhanced Regional Situational Awareness (ERSA) system represents a dramatic upgrade from previous security technologies. These new cameras are giving air defense operators unprecedented capabilities in monitoring and protecting critical airspace. They come with some seriously cool features that take air defense to the next level. 

The cameras boast infrared vision with RGB filters for heat signature detection, allowing operators to spot targets even in low visibility conditions. A laser range finder provides accurate distance and altitude measurements, enhancing the system’s precision. Machine learning elements enable enhanced auto-tracking capabilities, making it easier to follow objects of interest. Additionally, a visual warning system is in place to alert non-compliant aircraft, using red and green lasers to illuminate cockpits and prompt immediate action from pilots.

The brains behind the operation

The Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) in Rome, New York, works in close coordination with the Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC) at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling to manage the ERSA system. This integrated approach ensures comprehensive surveillance and rapid response to potential threats. Air Force Master Sgt. Kendrick Wilburn, a capabilities and requirements officer at JADOC, explains that the system allows for more precise radar data validation. When uncertain radar data is detected, operators can use the cameras as an additional resource to confirm and assess the situation. This collaborative effort between EADS and JADOC enables swift decision-making and effective threat mitigation.

Technological innovation

The ERSA system, developed by Teleidoscope, underwent rigorous testing in 2022, with air defense operators evaluating prototypes from three companies. Teleidoscope’s cameras stood out due to their advanced software enhancements and significant improvements over existing systems. The Defense Innovation Unit played a crucial role in securing funding through the Air Force’s Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) program, demonstrating a commitment to rapidly deploying cutting-edge defense technology. Marine Corps Maj. Nicholas Ksiazek of the Defense Innovation Unit likened the upgrade to ‘the technological leap we saw between a 2011 iPhone and a current one,’ highlighting the substantial advancements in capability. Currently, two operational cameras have been installed, with plans to add seven more annually, ensuring continuous improvement of the NCR’s air defense capabilities.

Kurt’s key takeaways

The rollout of the ERSA system marks a significant step forward in air defense for the National Capital Region. With AI-powered cameras that enhance detection and tracking capabilities, operators are equipped to respond to potential threats more effectively than ever before. This integration of advanced technology and skilled personnel underscores our commitment to national security, ensuring that Washington, D.C.’s airspace remains safe and secure as we move into the future.

What are your thoughts on expanding advanced air defense technologies like the ERSA system to other major cities across the country—do you believe they would enhance national security, or are there potential drawbacks to consider?  Let us know by writing us at

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Senate Democrats labeled billionaire Elon Musk ‘co-president’ and ‘shadow speaker’ among other titles as they reacted to the original stopgap spending deal’s implosion on Wednesday after he and ultimately President-elect Trump came out against it. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Musk ‘seems to be the guy in charge of the country now,’ reacting to his apparent ability to influence the bill’s prompt failure despite it having been agreed upon by bipartisan leaders in Congress. 

If a measure to provide funding for the government is not passed by Congress and signed by President Biden by midnight on Saturday morning, a partial government shutdown will go into effect. 

As of Thursday, the U.S. national debt was at $36,167,604,149,955.61 and continues to climb rapidly. 

After a 1,547-page short-term spending bill was debuted this week. Musk quickly took to X to trash it, pointing out various seemingly irrelevant provisions as well as its cost and length. 

He was soon joined by other critics, and Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance issued their own statement opposing the bill. 

This led to significant criticism from Democrats unhappy with Musk’s apparent ability to influence Trump and the Republicans in Congress. 

‘He’s the one who seems to be calling the shots,’ Warren told reporters. 

‘Elon Musk is the one evidently in charge of the Republican Party and has blown that deal up. So I don’t know how the Republicans are planning to recover from that,’ she said. 

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., suggested that Musk is ‘already the shadow speaker of the House,’ in a slight against House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

‘I think he’s unelected, and he’s created a whole lot of damage,’ said Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.

He claimed Republicans in Congress were ‘busy listening to Co-President Musk and co-President Trump.’ 

‘I’m listening to the people of Georgia, especially the farmers who are struggling to get disaster relief. And, we need to make sure that we get that over the finish line,’ said Warnock.

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., reiterated that Musk is not an elected official. ‘He doesn’t have any official government job,’ he said. 

‘We had a deal with Republicans in the House and now, because of him, the president-elect is on the verge of people losing their jobs and not getting paid over the holidays,’ Kelly said of a potential partial shutdown if a bill is not passed by a deadline of midnight on Saturday morning. 

Despite their Democratic colleagues’ claims, Republicans pushed back on the idea that Trump was being influenced by Musk. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., noted that there are ‘lots of people around President Trump,’ adding that he doesn’t think Musk has control over what the president-elect does. 

Musk was tapped by Trump, along with former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead what is called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a proposed advisory board tasked with eliminating government waste.

The House has passed a bill to avert a partial government shutdown on Friday, hours before the midnight federal funding deadline. 

The bill, which needed approval from two-thirds of the chamber, passed overwhelmingly in a 366 to 34 vote. 

All Democrats voted for the bill save for Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who voted ‘present.’

Lawmakers were scrambling for a path forward after an initial bill was tanked by President-elect Trump and his allies on Wednesday, and a later bill approved by Trump failed on the House floor Thursday.

But Trump has stayed noticeably silent on this latest measure – which many House Republicans saw as a tacit sign of approval.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was optimistic after days of uncertainty, telling reporters there would be a House-wide vote Friday when leaving a closed-door House GOP meeting where leaders presented their plan.

‘We will not have a government shutdown, and we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country and for making sure that military and essential services and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays,’ Johnson said. 

Meanwhile, the national debt has climbed past $36 trillion, and the deficit is over $1.8 trillion.

The legislation, if passed in the Senate, would extend current government funding levels through mid-March, a measure known as a continuing resolution (CR), paired with just over $100 billion in disaster relief aid for victims of storms Helene and Milton, as well as assistance for the agriculture industry.

Johnson bypassed regular House procedures to get the legislation straight to a chamber-wide vote, a maneuver known as ‘suspension of the rules.’

In exchange for the fast track, however, the threshold for passage was raised from a simple majority to two-thirds of the House chamber, meaning Democratic support is critical.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told reporters he believed Johnson struck an agreement with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. A longtime Johnson critic, Massie said he would not vote for the bill.

‘Trump wanted a debt limit increase, and now we’re bringing the exact same bill to the floor without the debt limit increase,’ Massie said.

Another Republican lawmaker argued Johnson would not move forward without Trump’s blessing.

‘We wouldn’t do it if they weren’t,’ Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., said when asked if Trump and Elon Musk were supportive of the deal.

Trump and Musk led the conservative rebellion against the initial plan to avert a partial shutdown, a bipartisan deal that came from negotiations between the top two Democrats and Republicans in both Congressional chambers.

That bill, 1,547 pages, would have extended current government funding levels until March 14. However, GOP hardliners were angered by what they saw as unrelated measures attached to the bill, like a pay raise for congressional lawmakers, health care policy provisions and legislation aimed at revitalizing RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

It was scrapped as Trump and Musk threatened to force out of office any lawmaker who did not support pairing a CR with action on the debt limit.

The debt limit is suspended until January 2025 through a prior bipartisan deal, but Trump had pushed for Republicans to act on it now to avoid a messy, protracted fight early in his term.

The second iteration of the funding deal was much slimmer, coming in at 116 pages. It excluded the stadium bill and the congressional pay raise, but still included measures to fund the rebuilding of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and disaster aid funding. It also suspended the debt limit through January 2027.

A House vote on the second plan went down in flames, however, after 38 Republicans opposed to raising or suspending the debt limit voted with all but two Democrats to defeat the bill.

Johnson huddled with those holdouts Friday morning, along with Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, and Vice President-elect JD Vance. 

The bill that passed the House on Friday does not act on the debt limit, but Johnson pledged in that closed-door meeting to raise the debt limit early next year as part of Republicans’ plans for a massive policy and spending overhaul.

During their closed-door meeting Friday, House GOP leaders unveiled their CR plan as well as a plan to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion, followed by $2.5 trillion in net spending cuts, multiple people told Fox News Digital.

Democrats who left their own closed-door meeting shortly before the vote largely said they would support the bill – which they did.

President Biden has said he would sign it into law if it reaches his desk after a Senate vote.

House lawmakers will soon vote on a bill to avert a partial government shutdown after a similar measure backed by President-elect Trump failed Thursday.

Congress is scrambling for a path forward as the clock ticks closer to the federal funding deadline, with a partial shutdown expected at 12:01 a.m. Saturday if no action is taken.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., suggested there would be a House-wide vote Friday when leaving a closed-door House GOP meeting where leaders presented their plan.

‘I expect that we will be proceeding forward,’ Johnson said. ‘We will not have a government shutdown, and we will meet our obligations for our farmers who need aid, for the disaster victims all over the country and for making sure that military and essential services and everyone who relies upon the federal government for a paycheck is paid over the holidays.’

Meanwhile, the national debt has climbed past $36 trillion, and the deficit is over $1.8 trillion.

Multiple lawmakers told Fox News Digital the forthcoming legislation would extend current government funding levels through mid-March, a measure known as a continuing resolution (CR), paired with just over $100 billion in disaster relief aid for victims of storms Helene and Milton, as well as assistance for the agriculture industry.

Johnson’s aim is to bypass regular House procedures to get the legislation straight to a chamber-wide vote, a maneuver known as ‘suspension of the rules.’

In exchange for the fast track, however, the threshold for passage is raised from a simple majority to two-thirds of the House chamber, meaning Democratic support is critical.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told reporters he believed Johnson struck an agreement with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. A longtime Johnson critic, Massie said he would not vote for the bill.

‘Trump wanted a debt limit increase, and now we’re bringing the exact same bill to the floor without the debt limit increase,’ Massie said.

Another Republican lawmaker argued Johnson would not move forward without Trump’s blessing.

‘We wouldn’t do it if they weren’t,’ Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., said when asked if Trump and Elon Musk were supportive of the deal.

Trump and Musk led the conservative rebellion against the initial plan to avert a partial shutdown, a bipartisan deal that came from negotiations between the top two Democrats and Republicans in both Congressional chambers.

That bill, 1,547 pages, would have extended current government funding levels until March 14. However, GOP hardliners were angered by what they saw as unrelated measures attached to the bill, like a pay raise for congressional lawmakers, health care policy provisions and legislation aimed at revitalizing RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

It was scrapped as Trump and Musk threatened to force out of office any lawmaker who did not support pairing a CR with action on the debt limit.

The debt limit is suspended until January 2025 through a prior bipartisan deal, but Trump had pushed for Republicans to act on it now to avoid a messy, protracted fight early in his term.

The second iteration of the funding deal was much slimmer, coming in at 116 pages. It excluded the stadium bill and the congressional pay raise, but still included measures to fund the rebuilding of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and disaster aid funding. It also suspended the debt limit through January 2027.

A House vote on the second plan went down in flames, however, after 38 Republicans opposed to raising or suspending the debt limit voted with all but two Democrats to defeat the bill.

Johnson huddled with those holdouts Friday morning, along with Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, and Vice President-elect JD Vance. 

The latest plan that’s expected to get a vote does not act on the debt limit, but Johnson pledged in that closed-door meeting to raise the debt limit early next year as part of Republicans’ plans for a massive policy and spending overhaul.

During their closed-door meeting Friday, House GOP leaders unveiled their CR plan as well as a plan to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion, followed by $2.5 trillion in net spending cuts, multiple people told Fox News Digital.

It’s still not clear if the bill will sway all the 38 holdouts, however. Many had advocated for a plan to separate the CR from disaster relief and agricultural aid to vote on ‘single-subject’ bills.

But with a partial government shutdown looming just hours away, it appeared House leaders were running out of time to get that done by the end of Friday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre volleyed away reporters’ questions on Friday about President Biden’s lack of public appearances amid the ongoing government funding fight as a partial shutdown looms. 

Jean-Pierre refused to answer why the president has not spoken to the American public about his position, and she instead blamed Republicans, President-elect Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and their ‘billionaire friends’ like Elon Musk for the chaos on Capitol Hill. 

‘Why hasn’t President Biden said anything in the public about this? Don’t the American people deserve to know why millions of federal workers could enter this holiday period without a paycheck?’ Jean-Pierre was asked during her daily press briefing. 

‘All Americans need to know that Republicans are getting in the way here and they are the ones who have created this mess. That’s the reality. That’s the fact,’ she responded. ‘This is not the first time we’ve been here. And the president has had this approach before. He understands how Congress works. He’s been around for some time. He understands what strategy works here to get this done.’

Jean-Pierre said Friday that Biden has held phone calls with Democratic leaders in Congress — Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. — but would not say if the president has spoken to the House speaker with regard to the ongoing discussions. 

‘He has been getting regular updates from his team. His team has been in touch with congressional members from both sides of the aisle,’ she said. 

A streamlined version of a bill backed by Trump to avert a partial government shutdown failed to pass the House of Representatives on Thursday night.

The bill, which needed two-thirds of the House chamber to pass, failed by a vote of 174 to 235. The national debt has soared to over $36 trillion, and the national deficit is over $1.8 trillion.

Jean-Pierre said Republicans went back on their word and ‘blew up this deal.’

‘Republicans need to stop playing politics with a government shutdown. And they are doing the bidding. They’re doing the bidding of their billionaire friends. That’s what we’re seeing at the expense of hard-working Americans,’ she said. 

‘There is a bipartisan agreement that Republicans tanked because of what they were directed to do by Elon Musk and President-elect Trump. That’s what happened. That is the reality that we’re in now.’

Musk, an outspoken critic of government waste, has weighed in on the spending bill debate and led a conservative revolt against the first 1,547-page bill due to its bloated spending provisions, calling for lawmakers who supported the bill to lose their seats.

He supported the newer, slimmer version, which was ultimately rejected by House members. 

Reporters tried several different ways to try and get Jean-Pierre to comment on the president’s role in the matter, but she continued to sidestep.

‘The president is the President of the United States, and he is leading,’ she told a reporter, to which he responded: ‘To be clear, the strategy is he is leading by staying in the background?’

‘The strategy is that Congress, Republicans in particular, need to do their jobs and get out of their own way and focus on the American people, not their billionaire friends. That is what needs to happen. And that’s what the president wants to see,’ she replied.

Jean-Pierre also warned that a shutdown could disrupt the presidential transition process for the incoming administration.

‘If there is a shutdown — and I don’t want to get too much into hypotheticals — but this is the reality, transition activities will be restricted with limited exceptions, obviously, such as to prevent imminent threats to the safety of human life or the protection of property,’ she said.

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday that Republicans have a ‘good plan’ to avoid a partial government shutdown. 

Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., added: ‘I think you come to an agreement, then you get together and sit down and figure out, you know, if we can get across the finish line. And that’s probably what we’re about to do now.’