Xeric
RETIRED THINK TANK
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Since you are so excited about those 'leaked data' & took time to list out the significance of spy satellites with zeal, I shall let you know 'actual' value of the purported significance of the so called 'leaked info'.
The data shared is of the co-ordinates of airfields and helipads (ie stationary targets)
Those co-ordinated can be easily obtained through Google-earth, amateur and professional think tanks some times they get lucky & find a secret submarine base in far off coast in china or an underground aircraft hanger in North Korea and Google-earth's use for defense enthusiast stops right there.
And that explains why US has to Shell out billions on satellite imagery, for they are not just seeking co-ordinates and altitude. they seek topography, that includes height of a sand-dune in Iraq to the height of an 20 story building under construction in shangai, they map it some times on hourly basis and why do they do that?
thats coz their cruise missile and drones needs such precise information to literally hug on to the surface to evade radar and that is just one example of what they do with satellites.
I wont loose my nap over it ,for i know India has dedicated spy satellites 'on its own' that peeps on to the other side of the border gathering just more than co-ordinates.
No question about it- its a break in protocal by the Indian airforce BUT Look a simple google search ...comes up with. With GPS enabled how do yo figure each others countries does not know the location of the others military bases.
THANK YOU CHINA !!
Chinese Anti satellite site
Chinese Nuclear submarine site
My smarty pants buddies, these sat images (especially from a friend of indian namely 'Mr Google Earth') are of almost no use to the military. Yes, they may be used by terrorists (as done during Mumbai attacks, attack on PNS Mehran, Attack on GHQ etc) and may help in gaining a superficial knowledge as regards to the (general) location of these installation (which on the other hand is already known to chronic belligerents by virtue of spying via various other means which include, but are not limited to ground recce, ariel photography, inhouse spies etc). BUT, these cannot be used to work out exact grid coords/map references to direct fire (artillery, air, missiles etc), nor can these be used for planning purposes at operational and strategic levels, well may be at the tactical level one can resort to such outdated and inaccurate imaginary to lessen the 'fog of war' created once a tactical operation is launched.
For a sat imagery to be of use to military commanders, it has to be precise and accurate. For an error in DECIMALS in the Long/Lats yields an error in kilometers when the grid coords are converted into Map/Grid References, and believe me, errors in inches and centimeters only are acceptable when a missile/artillery raid is planned.
On the other hand, when the news says that you guys had "disclosed locations and precise coordinates of sensitive forward posts of the Army along the Pakistan and China border"....."along with details of altitude and dimensions of helipads", well then one needs to worry. Because how ever accurate one tries to measure dimensions via google earth with its measuring tools, they'd still be inaccurate to an extent that they become useless for operational planning.
This happens because of the various methods (like Retroazimuthal, Gnomonic, Equidistant, Conformal, Pseudoconical/Conical, Pseudocylindrical/Cylindrical, Mercator projections etc etc) used to prepare maps and by the satellites to photograph the earth.
If i remember correctly, GE uses Mercator Projection to map images. Now these may not be suitable for a military map used in india or Pakistan or wherever, if these maps are using any other method of PROJECTION to construct the map! So, one doesnt need any higher intellect to understand that these fancy images at GE etc are just for naives. But when our 'friends' would give us the exact coordinates, well then it's altogether a different story. Savvy?!