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Google Finds Drones in Pakistan
A few days ago Dianne Feinstein got into a little bit of trouble for admitting in public that the U.S. drones used to attack terrorist bases in Pakistan are launched from within Pakistan itself. Since the Pakistani government officially opposes the American attacks, they were none too happy about this — and Feinstein later backtracked, saying that she was just repeating something that had been previously reported in the Washington Post.
The News, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan, decided to dig up the truth, so they went to the best source they could find: Google Earth.
Two pictures of an unidentified flying strip in Balochistan — bearing the coordinates 27 degrees 51 minutes North, 65 degrees and 10 minutes East — prove that Pakistani ground was being used, at least until 2006.
Both the pictures are still available on Google Earth, which maps every corner of the world through a satellite and internet users can zoom in to see every detail, even cars parked in front of their drive ways....The first picture of the drones on the Pakistani soil, taken in 2006, has three drones, all Global Hawks.
Later, the London Times got into the act and identified the location as Shamsi airfield. They also reported that the drones weren't Global Hawk reconnaissance craft at all. Most likely they're Predators armed with laser-guided Hellfire missiles:
The Google Earth image now suggests that the US began launching Predators from Shamsi — built by Arab sheiks for falconry trips — at least three years ago
....Damian Kemp, an aviation editor with Jane's Defence Weekly, said that the three drones in the image appeared to have wingspans of 48-50ft. “The wingspan of an MQ1 Predator A model is 55ft. On this basis it is possible that these are Predator-As,” he said. “They are certainly not RQ-4A Global Hawks (which have a wingspan of 116ft 2in).”
As you can see, the drones were kept outdoors in 2006, but now appear to be stored inside the newly built hangar shown in the bottom right of the 2009 photo. So that's that: it turns out that drones are being launched from Pakistan, just like Feinstein said. And our deepest military secrets? They're nothing compared to the power of Teh Google. You have been warned.





























And a tip of the hat to Neal
And a tip of the hat to Neal Stephenson who inspired teh Googly Earth with the best SF novel since Alfred Bester's.
She got in trouble for
She got in trouble for admitting in public something that had already been...admitted in public?
Is that poorly/oddly/wrongly worded?
Isn't technology amazing?
Isn't technology amazing?
The initial disclosure was
The initial disclosure was damaging. DiFi's disclosure lead reporters to a concrete confirmation.
Publication in papers <> declassification.
Slightly off-topic, but
Is "teh" intended as a word, or is it a typo? If intentional, I'm sorry but I think it's stupid. Stop it!
Wikipedia
Teh is an internet slang neologism most frequently used as an English article, based on a common misspelling of the. A common typographical error, this typo became a part of Internet slang and subsequently developed grammatical usages distinct from the.[1] It is not common in spoken or written English outside technical or leetspeak circles, but when spoken, it is pronounced /tə/.[2]
TEH
I love what I learn in Kevin's comments.
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@Slightly off-topic ...and
@Slightly off-topic
...and by the way, you are on the internet.
Global Hawks or Predators (or Reapers)?
tagged as:- solution
One way to distinguish Global Hawks from Predators or Reapers in this view is the ratio of the wingspan to the length. From info available in Wikipedia:
Predator - W~49, L~27, for a ratio of 1.83 to 1
Reaper - W~66, L~36, for a ratio of 1.83 to 1
Global Hawk - W ~116, L~44, for a ratio of 2.63 to 1
Based on that the one nearest the yellow arrow is ambiguous, but the other two look like Global Hawks.
Base Coordinates
The coordinates 27.51N, 65.10E are off by about 22 miles.
The correct coordinates are : 27°51'16.95"N, 65°10'5.05"E
Here : http://maps.google.com/maps?q=27.85468569396464,65.16810894012451
Re: Global Hawks of Predators (or Reapers)?
Whoops. The yellow arrow is on a version of the photo from another source. I should have said that "the one facing the lower left corner of the 2006 photo is ambigous. The other two look like Global Hawks".
Or just sailplanes?
tagged as:- solution
In the rush to find a military explanation, has anyone considered that they might be civilian sailplanes?
The wingspan to length ratio (not actual size) of sailplanes is similar to the Global Hawk (2.5:1) and the wingspans of sailplanes are similar to the claim in the story that these planes have spans of 45 to 50 feet. Add to this the claim in the story that this field originally was built for recreational use and the whole story could go 'poof'.
Sorry but these do not look
Sorry but these do not look like gliders, the wing span is not long enough in relation to the fuselage.
This story will only "GO
This story will only "GO POOF", if (1) you are not a conspiracy theorist or (2) you believe that 911 was not an inside job. And O yeah (3) the CIA has soaring tours in Pakistan: ad "CUM FLY WITH ME AND SEE TEH--RAN".
Not Global Hawks
I work with defense issues, specifically Unmanned Aircraft and I can say that these are definitely not Global Hawks. They are, as the article states, most likely Predators being operated by the CIA or Special Forces with explicit Pakistani knowledge.
Google Earth Time?
Hi,
How can you view older pictures with GE? I'm wanting to 'scroll back' I wish there were a timeline or archival aerial photos available. How did they get this one from 2006?
earthsurfing(at)yahoo
I am actually trying to
I am actually trying to study development of farmland, etc. and finding older photos online or through google would save countless hours of wearing gloves in archival library map rooms...
Iowa has some historic
Iowa has some historic aerial photography online from the 1930s and may be adding more from later decades. This was the decade the Corps of Engineers were building the lock and dam system on the Mississippi and one interesting area is by Clinton where the dam is not yet finished and the river runs free as only parts of the project are completed.
Check out the Iowa Geographic Map Server
http://ortho.gis.iastate.edu/
I would have to say Kevin's
I would have to say Kevin's comments are the most insightful. In my opinion, I don't think this is conclusive as there is no real way to distinguish Global Hawks from Predators or Reapers. If we had a closer look, you can well tell from the wingspans
great
very nice post thanks!!! i really like it
Panic Disorders
wow.. keep working like this
wow.. keep working like this thanks!!!