The U.S. military\u2019s elite special operations command doesn\u2019t want its planes tracked, according to a procurement document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By: Sam Biddle<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n A TECHNOLOGY WISH LIST circulated by the U.S. military\u2019s elite Joint Special Operations Command suggests the country\u2019s most secretive war-fighting component shares an anxiety with the world\u2019s richest man: Too many people can see where they\u2019re flying their planes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Joint Special Operations Air Component, responsible for ferrying commandos and their gear around the world, is seeking help keeping these flights out of the public eye through a \u201c\u2018Big Data\u2019 Analysis & Feedback Tool,\u201d according to a procurement document obtained by The Intercept. The document is one of a series of periodic releases of lists of technologies that special operations units would like to see created by the private sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The listing specifically calls out the risk of social media \u201ctail watchers\u201d and other online observers who might identify a mystery plane as a military flight. According to the document, the Joint Special Operations Air Component needs software to \u201cleverage historical and real-time data, such as the travel histories and details of specific aircraft with correlation to open-source information, social media, and flight reporting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Armed with this data, the tool would help the special operations gauge how much scrutiny a given plane has received in the past and how likely it is to be connected to them by prying eyes online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than providing the ability to fake or anonymize flight data, the tool seems to be aimed at letting sensitive military flights hide in plain sight. \u201cIt just gives them better information on how to blend in,\u201d Scott Lowe, a longtime tail watcher and aviation photographer told The Intercept. \u201cIt\u2019s like the police deciding to use the most common make of local car as an undercover car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While plane tracking has long been a niche hobby among aviation enthusiasts who enjoy cataloging the comings and goings of aircraft, the public availability of midair transponder data also affords journalists, researchers, and other observers an effective means of tracking the movements and activities of the world\u2019s richest and most powerful. The aggregation and analysis of public flight data has shed light on\u00a0CIA torture flights<\/a>, movements of\u00a0Russian oligarchs<\/a>, and Google\u2019s\u00a0chummy relationship<\/a>\u00a0with NASA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More recently, these sleuthing techniques gained international attention after they drew the ire of Elon Musk,\u00a0the world\u2019s richest man<\/a>. After he purchased the social media giant Twitter, Musk banned an account that shared the movements of his private jet. Despite\u00a0repeated promises to protect free speech<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and a specific pledge to not ban the @ElonJet account \u2014 on the platform, Musk proceeded to\u00a0censor<\/a>\u00a0anyone sharing his plane\u2019s whereabouts<\/a>, claiming the entirely legally obtained and fully public data amounted to \u201cassassination coordinates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Joint Special Operations Air Component\u2019s desire for more discreet air travel, published six months after Musk\u2019s jet data meltdown, is likely more firmly grounded in reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE JOINT SPECIAL Operations Air Component provides a hypothetical scenario in which special forces need to travel with a \u201creduced profile\u201d \u2014 that is to say, quietly \u2014 and use this tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen determining if the planned movement is suitable and appropriate,\u201d the procurement document says, \u201cthe \u2018Aircraft Flight Profile Management Database Tool\u2019 reveals that the aircraft is primarily associated with a distinctly different geographic area\u201d \u2014 a frequent tip-off to civilian plane trackers that something interesting is afoot. \u201cAdditionally, \u2018tail watchers\u2019 have posted on social media pictures of the aircraft at various airfields. Based on the information available, the commander decides to utilize a different airframe for the mission. With the aircraft in flight, the tool is monitored for any indication of increased scrutiny or mission compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The request is part of a broad-ranging list of technologies sought by the Joint Special Operations Command, from advanced radios and portable blood pumps to drones that can fly months at a time. The 85-page list essentially advertises these technologies for private-sector contractors, who may be able to sell them to the Pentagon in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The document \u2014 marked unclassified but for \u201cFurther dissemination only as directed by the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Joint Capability and Technology Expo (JCTE) Team\u201d \u2014 is part of an annual effort by Joint Special Operations Command to \u201cinform and influence industry\u2019s internal investment decisions in areas that address SOF\u2019s most sensitive and urgent interest areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The anti-plane-tracking tool fits into a broader pattern of the military attempting to minimize the visibility of its flights, according to Ian Servin, a pilot and plane-tracking enthusiast. In March, the military removed<\/a> tail numbers and other identifying marks from its planes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat will be interesting is seeing how they change their operations after having this information,\u201d Servin said. From a transparency standpoint, he added, \u201cThose changes could be problematic or concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n LINK TO SOURCE: https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2023\/07\/18\/military-plane-flight-tracking\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The U.S. military\u2019s elite special operations command doesn\u2019t want its planes tracked, according to a procurement document. By: Sam Biddle A TECHNOLOGY WISH LIST circulated by the U.S. military\u2019s elite Joint Special Operations Command suggests the country\u2019s most secretive war-fighting component shares an anxiety with the world\u2019s richest man: Too many people can see where they\u2019re … Read More “PENTAGON JOINS ELON MUSK\u2019S WAR AGAINST PLANE TRACKING”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[60],"class_list":["post-312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pentagon","tag-aircraft"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t