U.S. violating Iranian airspace with surveillance drones

[quaoar]

By Dafna Linzer
The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran for nearly a year to seek evidence of nuclear weapons programs and detect weaknesses in air defenses, according to three U.S. officials with detailed knowledge of the secret effort.

The small, pilotless planes, penetrating Iranian airspace from U.S. military facilities in Iraq, use radar, video, still photography and air filters designed to pick up traces of nuclear activity to gather information that is not accessible to satellites, the officials said. The aerial espionage is standard in military preparations for an eventual air attack and is also employed as a tool for intimidation.

The Iranian government, using Swiss channels in the absence of diplomatic relations with Washington, formally protested the illegal incursions, according to Iranian, European and U.S. officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

A U.S. official acknowledged that drones were being used but said the Iranian complaint focused on aircraft overflights by the Pentagon. The United States, the official said, replied with a denial that manned U.S. aircraft had crossed Iran’s borders. The drones were first spotted by dozens of Iranians and set off a national newspaper frenzy in late December over whether the country was being visited by UFOs.

[Chipper Chat]

1. Even Eisenhower denied the U2 flights until

Gary Powers was shot down. If one does get shot down in Iran and the pilot survives will there be a beheading? I've heard those radicals in the middle-east are in to that. And would that hasten the fundies cry for war - WAR! ?
Also - could this whole social security whirlwind be a diversionary tactic to mask preparations for an attack on Iran? Pretty Rovian - dontch athink?

[whistle]

2. Drones are not a problem, it's when they start flying top guns...

...into Iran that we begin seeing the sh*t hit the fan. Iraq had 23 million people while Iran has close to 75 million. Iran looks a lot more like Afghanistan from the standpoint of terrain, lots of mountains to hide their troops and insurgents in, our whole military strategy would bog down and stalemate in a very short time. That's one place we really need to stay away from.

[Newsjock]

3. Time for U.N. sanctions

against countries that knowingly and consistently violate other countries' sovereignity.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. You Can't Have Sanctions Against A Permanent Member Of The Security

Council Unless The Member Votes Against Itself....

[leveymg]

4. Oh, that's what UFOs really are. So much for Project Bluebook.

Never thought they were a threat to the national security.

[paineinthearse]

5. The United States...replied with a denial that manned U.S. aircraft...

PREDATOR PROTECTS – The RQ/MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle is shown here at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Jan. 25, 2005. This lightweight, low horsepower aircraft is capable of flying more than 20 hours of intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions to help protect ground troops in Iraq.

http://www.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?storyID=123009798

Predators protect troops

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- Maj. Michael Bruzzini inspects an RQ/MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle here. He is the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron commander (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Leah R. Burton)

by Army Spc. Leah R. Burton
28th Public Affairs Detachment

2/10/2005 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- The loud roars of F-16 Fighting Falcons here are familiar reminders of close-air support, but unmanned Predators silently swarm the sky protecting troops by different means.

The RQ/MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle is a lightweight, low-horsepower aircraft capable of taking daylight and infrared video imagery as it traverses the atmosphere above virtually undetectable, officials said. A pilot and a sensor operator control the Predator from a ground terminal.

Airmen of the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron here fly the Predator, aiding Soldiers in combat situations.

Although the Predator's main mission is collecting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information, it can also fire weapons.

"Obviously if we catch the bad guys that are shooting mortars at our base, the mortars stop," said Maj. Michael Bruzzini, squadron commander. "We saw mortars launched and took out the perpetrators with Hellfire missiles."

All of this is done from a terminal on the ground, where a pilot and a sensor operator control the movements and actions of the UAV.

The Predator was used during a recent raid where Soldiers detained several high-value targets, increasing the unit's combat effectiveness by 50 percent, Major Bruzzini said.

"As the raid was going down, a 'God's-eye' view was being passed down to the Soldiers,” Major Bruzzini said. “The Predator had eyes on the whole time and was able to inform the Soldiers of what was going on around them."

This type of mission is what the Predator was designed for.

"Our biggest mission is to support ," Major Bruzzini said.

While the Predator supports the mission, Major Bruzzini said he understands his sister service's bottom line.

"You win wars by securing ground, and troops on the ground are the only way you secure ground," the former F-16 pilot said.

There are challenges that are unique to the Predator.

"You feel like you're in it. You do lose some situational awareness, because you can't look around your aircraft," Major Bruzzini said. "You take for granted a lot of things that are very easy in other aircraft, like taxiing."

Another challenge is that the pilot is not actually in the aircraft; however, flying the Predator is very similar to flying other aircraft, he said.

The sensor operators control the movement of the cameras on the Predator. They train for nine months, six months at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, and three with a formal training unit.

"In the first couple of weeks of the (training), you want to quit " said Airman 1st Class Tyler Farley, a squadron sensor operator.

Airman Farley said he has since mastered the operation of the equipment and now acts on instinct. "You just trust what the pilots do and play your 'video game' for five hours or so," he said.

Although it can be scary controlling a $4.2 million aircraft by remote control, Major Bruzzini said they are more apt to take risks in this aircraft because it is unmanned.

"What's going through my head (when I'm flying the Predator) is we have troops getting shot at who are Americans, and I want to help save American lives. ... It's very rewarding to know that what you do saves lives. ... There are combat missions with people on the ground, and I'm saving their lives on a daily basis," Major Bruzzini said. (Courtesy of American Forces Press Service)

[AZCat]

6. I worked on a project for this

For a brief period as an undergrad I worked on a project for one of my professors. He was working on an image-processing system that could "see" through various barriers. Pretty crazy stuff. It worked by taking the whole spectrum of light coming from something and shoving it through a transfer function. I left when they converted over to a neural net but last I heard it was working pretty well.

[slor]

7. No crime here...

that airspace belongs to freedom and the dancing Iranians.

[hector459]

8. I hope one crash lands so they can counter the technology or make some

of their own.

[quaoar]

9. They don't need it

They already have one:

http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2004/november/iran_israel_drone_91104.shtml