Iran releases decrypted footage from US' RQ-170 drone

reply to post by Evanzsayz


Or, if it was really a top of the line UAV, and not an off the shelf aircraft like it is.

Originally posted by ImaFungi
Why was America flying drones over Iran? How many drones do they do this with and how often? kinda rude dont ya think... considering how America would react if Iran flew drones over America

... But I guess as long as Americans view them as lesser people, they can treat them like lesser people...

People who kill their own for voicing disapproval, who treat their females as cattle, who would gladly start nuclear war for some delusional superstitious bent... ARE lesser people.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say such 'people' are a scourge on humanity and need to be eradicated to ensure the furtherment of our species.

reply to post by madenusa

this is north Korea and China who have threatened USA with Nukes. and they have it. not Iran !
more over if Israel would think that attacking Iran is safe. he would not hesitate. and he would not ask USA to do it !!
and USA. he will not attack Iran. at least for the next century. USA always prefers safer ways and it can not weaken Iran enough by their pressures. attacking Syria can lead to WW3, let alone Iran !!!

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Neocrusader

 

Yeah it does. It definitely can't be a Predator/Reaper, because the camera is in front of the landing gear on both, and the landing gear is this scrawny little thing.


Okay, now THIS is interesting. Here's a pic of the Sentinel in Iran, with the gear down.



Notice anything missing?

I dont know what the problem is. The camera angle on some of the fotage are such that you wont see the landing gear hatches.

Here is a image of where the camera is situated on the RQ-170.



If you look at some of the fottage you will see that, if the camera moves enough to the rear. You can see the hatch on the right landing geear. You can also see the hatch on the front gear when the camera moves past it to the left.

reply to post by spy66


The problem is that the landing gear door, when the camera comes around to the left, and back, doesn't appear to be big enough to be the nose gear door on the Sentinel. That's a pretty substantial door, and the camera flashes by it pretty fast. It looks smaller in the video than the door on the nose of the -170.

reply to post by Zaphod58


I have been looking at this video. And if you stop it at 0:14. You will see that the door is prity wide, and you cant see the bottom of the door. "Front Gear"




Not very good quality images.

Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by ugie1028

 

Iran decrypted footage did they? Being that I was a cryptologist in the USN & understand how the military encrypts their data I call BS on Iran.

But then again, did anyone need my verification to call Iran out on its lies?

nah

I too, worked in SIGINT, and can guarantee without a shadow of a doubt that UAVs are hijack-able, and Iran has done it. Of course I cannot discuss the matter any more, as going in depth would probably be a security violation... but it is DEFINITELY plausible.

reply to post by SimonPetrikov


I always refer people to this regarding the Iran hack, it's not likely that they "hacked" it.

Link

He also private messaged me this.

Military drones and Military/Government GPS in general the signals used ONLY come from space and as a side "benefit" of this the military GPS receiver has to have a horizon to access a certain number of satellite signals which increases the security a great deal. A ground based Military GPS has a limited number of satellites it can access due to it's "horizon" where as an airborne vehicle has many more to choose from due to ITS larger horizon due to its altitude.

reply to post by Laxpla




I understand that it is very difficult to do. But in the end drones operate via radio signal, and any radio signal can be interfered with. Again, it is very difficult for me to say much because I do not want to violate the terms of my security clearance, but I worked very close with preds and reapers calibrating the signals transmitted to and from platforms aboard the drones. And for what it is worth, the discussion in your link definitely seems to favor that they are hackable.

reply to post by SimonPetrikov


I've not worked with drones but if their signal is encrypted then they are not hackable. If the drones signal isn't encrypted then the I suppose they're hackable but I can't see their signals being left open. In any case, the drones comm signals should definitely be encrypted, especially since the military is aware they can & will malfunction and or crash, so whatever data is on board must be encrypyed.

I don't believe Iran hacked US drones or decrypted anything from them.

reply to post by SimonPetrikov


I was always under the impression that radio signal were used only for take off and Landing.

Direct radio signals controlled the drone's takeoff and initial ascent. Then communications shifted to military satellite networks linked to the pilot's van. Pilots experienced a delay of several seconds between moving their joysticks and the drone's response. But by 2000 improvements in communications systems (perhaps by use of the USAF's JSTARS system) made it possible, at least in theory, to fly the drone remotely from great distances. It was no longer necessary to use close-up radio signals during the Predator's takeoff and ascent. The entire flight could be controlled by satellite from any command center with the right equipment. The CIA proposed to attempt over Afghanistan the first fully remote Predator flight operations, piloted from the agency's headquarters at Langley.

reply to post by Laxpla


My understanding is that it depends on the UAV in question. Predators and Reapers take off and land under local control, but are flown by people back at Creech AFB. Once the mission is over, and they're heading back to base, they hand control back over to people in Afghanistan to land them. Others are semi-autonomous and only require a little bit of control, flying a preprogrammed flight path, and then are hand flown to land again.

I dont think the resolution is that bad. If i were making a spy camera that I knew could be shot out of the sky, I would not use the most expensive camera i could find but enough of a camera to get e job done.

Swills i do believe its possible Iran has the ability to decrypt military grade encryption. We would share these methods with our allies and some allies will talk. Iran could have known enough about the technology to put the best super computers on it. These people are not dumb and they have billions of dollars to throw at the problem.