Fox News alert: US fears Iraq has transported GPS guided drones to America

Drones or pieces of drones that have GPS mapping may have been sent to Iraqi agants in US to spray chem or bio weapons over US cities.

I don't believe or disbelieve this report. We have seen Iraq testing long range drones. He does have anthrax etc. GPS guidance is available off the shelp. It can happen, as well as 100 other forms of attack.,P>

The only thing about this is Saddam's drones were MIGs or some other full-sized aircraft. I think it is harder to build a small drone to do whathe would want to do.

I was under the impression the question was about interrupting the entire system, civilian and military as I wonder if our military system might have been comprimised (like by the Ruskies). Time will tell as that info will never see the light of day either way...

FreeRepublic.com is mentioned in the article (negatively). All need to read it (though not if you are easily scared) -- the writer has come closer to an actual scenario than any fire/earthquake/flood writer could produce for a made-for-TV Hollywood movie. It does need it's own thread, though it will scare the pants off of whoever reads it.

Not much knowledge required for the guidance. You can buy a GPS nav system commercially. The system below incorporates a GPS and the necessary servomotor controls for flaps and throttle drivers for the engine. About $5000 for a complete nav system. You could build a comparable system for terrorist purposes for a lot less. This one has a Motorola 68332 CPU. It can address 16 megs of RAM and/or flash ram plus serially-interface RAM, compasses, etc. This is the same CPU put in Palm Pilot devices these days.

Micropilot

Believe me, it's not that hard for an R/C modeler who knows computers. And you thought they looked so harmless when you saw them out flying in a park.

"I'll take some heat for this. I'm quickly becoming tired of FOX's breathless war anouncements. They are usually of no substance and whenever I see them posted here they are anything but fair, balanced or first - more like panicked, hysterical and without merit."

I tend to agree about these FNC "alerts" now. AND FOR GOD'S SAKE PEOPLE, do not open up with everything you have at your neighbor's kid's model airplanes. Sheesh, I can see this story coming across the wire now:

"Pro-NRA Gun Nut fires 200 rounds at Neighbor's Model Airplane...5 migrating spotted owls killed as a result"

Then of course the standard Crossfire debate about repealing the 2nd Amendment on CNN...

By far the most difficult part of an attack would be the procurement of the chemical/bio substance. We all know how easy it would be to get it into the country, a willing donor is all that is required.
I don't think Saddam would care who had it in this country, so long as he had no doubt it would be used!

"This should be sufficient cause to pretty much turn off or encrypt the GPS network. "

Good time to get a Sea-Tow or simlar franchise and go into the the salvage business.

Believe me I have no doubt that the scenario you described would be devastating. I was just pointing out how in-effective a man with a big 'ol bag of anthrax really was. Delivery is the sticker here. The scenario you expained is one for worry, but it would be a massive effort by operatives in various cities to pull it off. It's just that so much has been made of how little bio/chem agent it takes to kill millions, and while that is true if everyone lined up for an injection, in a real-world scenario, it would take a herculean effort like the one you described to be an effective attack.

Dead corpse is right. In fact you can buy a complete drone with GPS system made for aerial photography. In fact one of them recently set a record by flying across the atlantic. Remove the camera, replace it with a box and electromagnetic latch, fill it with VX, Go to Ireland, set the coordnance for New York. And you will make news.

Saddam's UAV

This is a picture similar to the one on Foxnews which comes from the Boston Globe. On Fox they show it to be with a background of what appears to be a garage door shich would make the wingspan about 10 feet.

Saddam's UAV

Not as stylish as a Zagi. Saddam hangs out too much with the French.

I'm tending to doubt we'll see UAV weapons here in the U.S. at this time. But if Saddam goes chemical during our invasion, these UAVs could be the way.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

***FOX NEWS.com: "IRAQI DRONES MAY TARGET U.S. CITIES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON -- Iraq could be planning a chemical or biological attack on American cities through the use of remote-controlled "drone" planes equipped with GPS tracking maps, according to U.S. intelligence. The information about Iraq's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program has caused a "real concern" among defense personnel, senior U.S. officials tell Fox News. They're worried that these vehicles have already been, or could be, transported inside the United States to be used in an attack, although there is no proof that this has happened. Secretary of State Colin Powell showed a picture of a small drone plane during his presentation to the U.N. Security Council earlier this month.") (February 24, 2003)

NEW IND PRESS.com - A South India News Site (PTI): "ISI TO REPLICATE 9-11 IN KASHMIR" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "NEW DELHI: In order to have a 'mini replica' of September 11 attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan's ISI has directed militants, especially of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), to use toy planes to target Army posts and VVIPs. Quoting an interrogation report of a LeT militant arrested in the state, informed sources said that the ISI had handed over a "fleet" of four dozen such planes, capable of carrying 10-15 kg of RDX, to LeT for carrying out an attack on Army posts or helicopter gunships of the Indian Air Force.The sources said that two such planes were recovered recently from Rajouri district of Jammu region. The toy planes, which can be operated by remote control, take a set trajectory and hit a target within a range of 300 metres.The arrested militant said that the plane was displayed at a Lashkar congregation in Pakistan. The militant was unable to give any further information about the toy plane but told his interrogators that the plane had flown out of his sight during its trial, the sources said.The militant had said that the ISI wanted to repeat the September 11 bombing of the World Trade Centre towers in the US by carrying out similar attacks, though using these toy planes, the sources said. The arrested militant revealed that the ISI was also planning to destroy some of the forward Indian positions at the Line of Control and international border using these toy planes. The sources said that this way, the ISI could use the plane from across the border and try to hit a forward Indian post, though such a strike might lack precision, the sources said. The toy plane could be folded inside a small briefcase and smuggled into the Valley, the sources said and added that the two seized planes in Rajouri were meant for transporting to Jammu for carrying out attacks at important installations and VVIPs. The planes were being assembled in the Lashkar-dominated area of Muridkee in Pakistan, the sources said.") (February 3, 2003)

DEBKA.com - DEBKA FILE: "ARAFAT'S NEW TERROR WEAPON: EXPLODING TOY PLANES" (January 14, 2003)

NY POST.com: "IRAQ'S ROBO-THREAT" by Vincent Morris (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON - Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is experimenting with unmanned aerial drones to attack the United States or its allies with deadly chemical or biological weapons, Secretary of State Colin Powell charged yesterday. Powell said Saddam "has been working hard" at using drones to drop deadly toxins on people from far off.") (090902)*NOTE: The url for this news article has expired.

ANANOVA.com: "COLUMBIAN ARMY SEIZES TOY AIRPLANE 'BOMBERS'" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Colombian troops have seized nine toy airplanes that rebels were planning to use to launch remote control attacks, the army says. The model airplanes were found during an early morning raid on two camps used by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.") (082702)

stepping back in time...An Interesting Discussion on FREEREPUBLIC.com regarding a HINDUSTAN TIMES Article: "PAKISTAN ISI MILITANTS PLAN TO USE EXPLOSIVE LADEN 'TOY PLANE' TO HIT VIPS" (November 4, 2001)

"Pro-NRA Gun Nut fires 200 rounds at Neighbor's Model Airplane...5 migrating spotted owls killed as a result"

this is a cruel insult -- there is no freeper alive who would need 200 rounds to reduce a model airplane to molecules.

Then of course the standard Crossfire debate about repealing the 2nd Amendment on CNN...

it's good to give tucker and the rabid children something to snarl over. think of it as a rawhide bone for fido, to keep him from ripping up your house slippers.

dep

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