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U.S. Kills Al Qaeda Leaders by Remote Control
The Sunday Times/Fox News ^
| 11/18/2001
| Stephen Grey
Posted on 11/19/2001 4:20:08 AM PST by Eyes Now Opened
Edited on 04/22/2004 12:31:39 AM PDT by Jim Robinson.
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To: Vigilanteman
Duh, I think we get it by now, learn to put mental paragraphs in your head. And learn to read prior posts, before posting.
41
posted on
11/19/2001 7:42:41 AM PST
by
skateman
To: Poohbah
Here's a REALLY scary thought: you can put together a lot of this sort of capability with stuff from Radio Shack and the local model & hobby shop. You can buy a satellite from Radio Shack?
Do the boosters come with it or are they purchased separately (Rockets-r-us)? ;-)
Actually, what makes Predator and Dark Star so effective are the secure, real-time satellite communications. Something a radio controlled device wouldn't have.
42
posted on
11/19/2001 7:44:48 AM PST
by
TomB
To: NittanyLion
This also suggests a new TV game show: Survior Al-Qaeda Edition. Terrorists vie to survive the various challenges, such as "evade the Special Forces sniper team," "conduct a satellite telephone conversation without the NSA listening in," and "dodge the GBU-15 strike," while voting each other out of their caves, and the winner gets $1,000,000...only to find out that the bills have been soaked in PETN (the main ingredient of det cord) and there's a mercury switch fuse :o)
43
posted on
11/19/2001 7:45:53 AM PST
by
Poohbah
To: TomB
Well, you don't have to buy a whole satellite these days; you just need to lease a few channels on a commercial bird.
44
posted on
11/19/2001 7:47:08 AM PST
by
Poohbah
To: Poohbah
That would make it rather easy to trace though. With a limited number of transponders on a limited number of birds, a terrorist organization would find it rather difficult to keep their activities secret.
The reason the military launches their own satellites is that commercial sats aren't very secure.
45
posted on
11/19/2001 7:51:45 AM PST
by
TomB
To: NittanyLion
bttt
To: LarryLied
Time to allow 13 year old boys in the military. They would pay the government to allow them to sit behind a terminal and control a Predator drone. Lousy idea. Why let those @#$@@!! kids have all the fun? I was blowin' away Tie Fighters before blowin' away Tie Fighters was cool...
To: TomB
No, the reason the military launches its own satellites is that they need guaranteed bandwidth availablity--they don't want their pictures of Atef getting blown to smithereens preempted by some guy broadcasting "Ishtar."
As for making it secure, there are a number of rather good encryption algorithms out there. Ecryption on both ends of the conversation is what makes the content secure--not the bird itself.
48
posted on
11/19/2001 7:56:45 AM PST
by
Poohbah
To: Deutsch
Besides Rocket Technology via Dr. Von Braun, the Germans also had the first operational jets, though it was too late to help them. It sure as hell helped us.
49
posted on
11/19/2001 8:08:11 AM PST
by
ohioman
To: Poohbah
As for making it secure, there are a number of rather good encryption algorithms out there. Ecryption on both ends of the conversation is what makes the content secure--not the bird itself. That assumes the NSA cannot break those algorithms. However, since one of the main advantages of Predator is that no one knows it is there, bouncing a signal off a commercial bird lets you know it is there in the first place, and makes locating it much easier. We wouldn't be interested in the information in the drone, only that it is operating.
And this, of course, debunks your earlier statement that "you can put together a lot of this sort of capability with stuff from Radio Shack and the local model & hobby shop."
50
posted on
11/19/2001 8:20:08 AM PST
by
TomB
To: Billthedrill
You are right. Kids have enough fun as it is. Let's have a national lottery to see who gets to sit behind a desk and blow away terrorists with the Predator's Hell-Fire missiles. We could use the money for the NRA Eddie Eagle program.
To: LarryLied
LOL!!!!!!!!!
To: dirtboy
Also, UAVs don't have mommies or babies, and they don't scream when they are captured and their guts are ripped open.
To: LarryLied
Let's have a national lottery to see who gets to sit behind a desk and blow away terrorists with the Predator's Hell-Fire missiles. Take my wallet. Please!
To: TomB
I have news for you--it is actually much easier to DF a Predator using most military satellites than it would be if it were using a commercial bird.
You are presuming that if the NSA can detect a signal, it can instantly determine its context and content in realtime, even from a very dense electronic environment.
The NSA may be good, but they ain't THAT good.
55
posted on
11/19/2001 8:41:44 AM PST
by
Poohbah
To: Travis McGee
they don't scream when they are captured and their guts are ripped open.They might let out a single very dramatic scream, one might even say an explosive one :o)
56
posted on
11/19/2001 8:43:09 AM PST
by
Poohbah
To: Poohbah
That would be a nice scream.
To: Travis McGee
Follow-up info from our surveillance sensors:
"Achmed! The Great Satan's spy plane is ours! Let's open it up and view its secrets!"
(Achmed having a good deal more sense than his compadre) "Selim, Allah loves your devotion to jihad, but shouldn't we wait for Abdul to get here? The Great Satans may have laid traps for us, and Abdul is skilled at disarming such devices."
"Achmed, you are SUCH a wimp! Here..." (sounds of screwdriver and hammer)
"Selim, QUIT MESSING WITH THAT YOU CAMEL-FORNI--"
(Loud explosion, end of tape.)
58
posted on
11/19/2001 8:52:18 AM PST
by
Poohbah
To: Eyes Now Opened
Thanks for the great article. It is a fascinating read.
If you'd like to learn more about posting with HTML code, just type "HTML" in the search box and you'll get the links to the instructions.
To: RushingWater
Video please! I agree. Something along the lines of ESPN's "Plays Of The Week."
Lol, "Hey Mohammad, don't hate me because I'm a player hater."
60
posted on
11/19/2001 10:20:00 AM PST
by
csvset
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