U.S. military spy drone can see what type of phone you're carrying from 17,500ft

Daily Mail ^ | 28 January 2013 | DAMIEN GAYLE

[expat1000]

A sinister airborne surveillance camera gives the U.S. military the ability to track movements in an entire city like a real-time Google Street View.

The ARGUS-IS array can be mounted on unmanned drones to capture an area of 15 sq/miles in an incredible 1,800MP - that's 225 times more sensitive than an iPhone camera.

From 17,500ft the remarkable surveillance system can capture objects as small as 6in on the ground and allows commanders to track movements across an entire battlefield in real time.

[Gasshog]

Yeah well the Big Guy Upstairs is watching the drones watching us.

Who shall I fear?

[TigersEye]

Through cloud cover?

[Seizethecarp]

Daily Mail is great! Thanks for posting the article with even greater detail regarding the surveillance that is available to Barry for good or evil.

[jonrick46]

This system can take any sector and toggle back and forth through time. They can track you back to the house (or place of crime) you came out of; to what you are doing in present time (with a colored marker following your movements). They can keep track of an entire city and know the comings and goings of anyone they want. If you are taken out, they call it a “splash.”

[jonrick46]

Comcast has that PBS Nova broadcast on pay-per-view.

[21twelve]

Used to be I would think this technology and think “This stuff is great - sure would suck to be a Gook, Taliban, etc.”

Now it is scary as I think instead of our enemy being on the receiving end of this, I think of me. HOWEVER - I would hope that the military guys running this would NOT run them over the U.S. BUT - other posts with regard to the Secret Service, SWAT, etc. make very good points that this technology will make it to our skies.

[Maurice Tift]

   it can see what type of phone you're carrying from 17,500ft

  I carry a portable Western Union rotary phone just to freak out the surveillance drones.

[Nailbiter]

To mess with the people watching - put your cell phone in your shoe-

[Chance Hart]

Why do I have the feeling that mirrored reflective material based Umbrellas are going to be the new rage? Hmmmmm Great potential for the inventive type. Think of the thousands of new jobs!

[itsahoot]

Through cloud cover?

Nope not visible light, but there are other spectrum's.

[TigersEye]

That they can see what type of phone I’m carrying?

[jonrick46]

In that PBS Nova broadcast on drones, they said that we are in the Wright Brothers era of drone technology. With that technology, you can run but you can’t hide.

[Casie]

I remember the joy I felt when I discovered that the new Google maps pic of my house was taken in the summer and my little 2 story home in the woods is virtually invisible. The mailbox way out on the highway gives me away though. Its a real shame about domestic drone use. Hard to believe our own tax dollars are being spent to track us like sheep. This technology should be delegated for non domestic military use only.

[trailboss800]

Can it see my middle finger?

[expat1000]

>>Can it see my middle finger?

Splash one! :-(

[The Working Man]

Two Words: Information Overload.

This can have a paralyzing effect on real-time actions, just as having too little information can do the same.

[driftdiver]

They could tell you whether a dime was heads or tails way back in the 70s. I kinda doubt the resolution is any less these days.

[ops33]

Interesting that the article states the altitude as 17,500 feet, 500 feet below the lowest usable flight level.

[fattigermaster]

There are now UAVs that have the capability to hover right in front of your head like a hummingbird, shoot a .22LR into your brain, and fly away. Enemies of the state begin dying like flies in unsolved homicides.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2970580/posts

[gunsequalfreedom]

They just think we are dumb and don’t know their capabilities. Of course, the reporter dutifully printed the misdirection.