Germany is the Tell-Tale Heart of America’s Drone War

A TOP-SECRET U.S. intelligence document obtained by The Intercept confirms that the sprawling U.S. military base in Ramstein, Germany serves as the high-tech heart of America’s drone program. Ramstein is the site of a satellite relay station that enables drone operators in the American Southwest to communicate with their remote aircraft in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and other targeted countries. The top-secret slide deck, dated July 2012, provides the most detailed blueprint seen to date of the technical architecture used to conduct strikes with Predator and Reaper drones.

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When the prominent German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and the German public television broadcaster ARD published an expose on Ramstein in May 2013 and alleged that the base was being used to facilitate drone strikes, it created a massive controversy in Germany. The report spurred parliamentary investigations and calls for the U.S. to explain exactly what it was doing at the base. In response, the German and U.S. governments mischaracterized the reporting and the German government claimed it had no hard evidence of Ramstein’s role in lethal strikes.

Link

This is interesting. To reduce latency with multiple satellites, the drone control data moves on cable to Ramstein where there is the sat uplink. Check the linked article. Diagrams in article.

No drone pilots at Ramstein, just the very important uplink.

a reply to: roadgravel

After world war

Germany lost sovereignty to western powers and central Bankers

They are slowly getting tired of it but they jump how high US tells them

a reply to: roadgravel

Drones should be made illegal for military use and this includes spying. At what point do we look back and say.......What happened. The military industrial complex is out of control and needs more and more enemies.......Who's next......China........Europe......This is a never ending cycle.

Big R&D companies have facilities in 3 different time zones working on the same project all the time so people working on a 8 to 5 schedule are working 24 hours a day in the problem, less burnout for the workers that way.

Must be the same with drones, 3 groups working on the same drone at different times zones, that way the operators don't have to be taking life or death choices at 3am, so someone in Australia at 5pm gives the control to someone in Germany starting the shift and then he relays to someone at US when his shift is over.

I would do it that way, it makes sense to me.

a reply to: Indigent

Yeah, but wouldn't the distances and separation be presenting a problem? When working with hardware for example, you'd have to have the appropriate facilities and equipment at several locations. Unless they were working on different aspects of the project that could be worked on in relative isolation or their specific task was suitable for working like that. I suppose there could be any number of creative solutions depending on what kind of project it is. But yeah, I'm imagining some problems. But what do I know eh.

On topic:

I'm wondering how the Germans around here feel about this?

Based on the diagram, all pilot operations is taking place in the US.

“The Air and Space Operations Center at Ramstein Air Base conducts operational level planning, monitoring and assessment of assigned airpower missions throughout Europe and Africa, but does not directly fly or control any manned or
remotely piloted aircraft.”

Can we all not get 80km lasers and aim them up there at the same time?

I think we can get a bulk discount for 5 billion of em from Wicked Lasers.