[defensetech.org]
Our boy Colin Clark at DoD Buzz participated in an interview this morning with the vice commander of the Air Force’s 480th ISR wing at Langley AFB.
Looks like they’re spooling up the Soviet missile snooping U-2 for
some surveillance flights over Haiti. No, they’re not looking for Hugo
Chavez’s secret stash of SS-3s. Instead the U-2 will use its
SYERS-2 multispectrum imagery capability to detect damage to buried
fuel lines, water mains and possible chemical spills.
But it also seems that Global Hawk has made some flybys as early as
the 13th, one day after the horrific earthquake that killed an
estimated 50,000.
The spy drone reportedly was sent to assess infrastructure for US military and relief deployments…
A story on the base’s web site
quoted Lt. Col. Mark Lozier, operations officer with the 12th
Reconnaissance Squadron: “In effect, you get to look at what we know is
damaged, and what we know is still serviceable. We can take a look at
airfields to assess, right now, whether or not we will be able to get
airlift in there with aid. We don’t have to wait for a ground team to
get in there and make on site decisions.”
Makes you wonder if being a SEAL or Recon Marine is getting to be a
lonely job since GH is doing the eyeballing those guys used to do.
Although the Air Force also sent a special tactics team to assess airfields and set up air traffic control for incoming US mil flights.
Anyway, we’re covering the relief operations and military
deployments with the entire Military.com, DoD Buzz and DT team and
will dispatch the latest in technology and policy-related information
here.
PS — Our own Jamie McIntyre of Line of Departure
is scheduled to do a flyover of Haiti in an Air Force OC-135 on
Saturday. So be sure to check here and LOD for the latest on that
mission.
– Christian
Source: http://defensetech.org/2010/01/15/drones-the-first-to-arrive-in-haiti/
