FC: FBI "Nightstalkers" track suspects by flying quietly above U.S.

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Also see this, from last month:

http://news.com.com/2010-1071-979276.html
>  In 1998, DARPA began funding a project to create spybots that can fly 
> day and night and that use infrared and video sensors. These spybots, 
> being designed by Lockheed Martin and code-named MicroStar, will have a 
> six-inch wingspan, weigh only 86 grams and cost about $10,000--an 
> affordable price point for surveilling Americans from above.
> And what of the spybots' larger cousins, capable of hovering higher and 
> seeing more for a longer duration? Last week The Washington Post reported 
> that the federal government may permit unmanned aircraft to fly above the 
> United States. "I believe that the potential applications for this 
> technology in the area of homeland defense are quite compelling," said 
> Sen. John Warner, R-Va., chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, 
> who added that the drones could be used by domestic police agencies.

-Declan

---

Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 02:02:05 -0600 (CST)
From: William Knowles <wk () c4i org>
X-X-Sender: wk () idle curiosity org
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: FBI Has Fleet of Aircraft Helping to Track Suspects in War on Terror
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.44.0303150201290.4984-100000 () idle curiosity org>
Organization: C4I.org - http://www.c4i.org
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAWWSROADD.html

By Curt Anderson
Associated Press Writer
Published: Mar 14, 2003

WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI has a fleet of aircraft, some equipped with
night surveillance and eavesdropping equipment, flying America's skies
to track and collect intelligence from suspected terrorists.
The FBI will not provide exact figures on the planes and helicopters,
but more than 80 are in the skies. There are several planes, known as
"Nightstalkers," equipped with infrared devices that allow agents to
track people and vehicles in the dark.

Other aircraft are outfitted with electronic surveillance equipment so
agents can pursue listening devices placed in cars, in buildings and
even along streets, or listen to cell phone calls. Still others fly
photography missions, although officials would not describe precise
capabilities.

The FBI, which has made counterterror its top priority since Sept. 11,
2001, has sharply increased its use of aircraft.

"You want to watch activity, and you want to do it discreetly. You
don't want to be sitting around in cars," said Weldon Kennedy, a
former FBI deputy director who retired in 1997 after 33 years with the
bureau. "Aviation is one way to do that. You don't need to get close
to that person at all."

Some critics say the surveillance technology further blurs the
boundaries on domestic spying. They point to a 2001 case in which the
Supreme Court found police had engaged in an unreasonable search by
using thermal imaging equipment to detect heat lamps used to grow
marijuana plants indoors.

[...]

*==============================================================*
"Communications without intelligence is noise;  Intelligence
without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC
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