Russian Bomber Over UK

[tim 360]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/25/russia.uk.intercepts/index.html?hpt=T2

I guess he got "lost"?  Putin flexing the muscles abit.

[BillyB]

British intercepted Russian planes more than 20 times in 2009 according to the article.

Russia is probably doing spy missions. America does the same thing sending planes close to airspace of certain countries and intercepting phone conversations there. IMO, it's also a move to show muscle.

[SANDRO43]

Russia is probably doing spy missions. America does the same thing sending planes close to airspace of certain countries and intercepting phone conversations there.

In the age of spy satellites ? Aren't Soviet eavesdropping trawlers & planes an outdated type of technology?

[Patagonie]

planes provide a flexibility for spying trip that satellites can't. And satellites cannot provide informations about hertzian spectrum (ECM, radar system (weapons and searching)).

[SANDRO43]

And satellites cannot provide informations about hertzian spectrum (ECM, radar system (weapons and searching)).

Apparently, this (http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d337/) does .

[BillyB]

In the age of spy satellites ? Aren't Soviet eavesdropping trawlers & planes an outdated type of technology?

Certain signals coming from mobile phones can't travel as far as into space. Sometimes the signal can't even travel to the nearest tower. America still uses spy planes. Here's one incident in 2001.

http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?us_military_specific_cases_and_issues=us_military_tmln_spy_plane_crash_in_china&timeline=us_military_tmln

These planes can listen in on thousands of phone calls at the same time and the computers in those planes can interpret many languages. It picks out and records calls of interest such as when those on the phone speak words such as bomb, explosives, kill, murder, and our President's name. When a terrorist act happens anywhere in the World, phone calls will increase in certain areas and there may be congratulatory words involved. When 9/11 happened, there were enough interesting phone activity in Afghanistan to quickly understand it was a Bin Laden plot.

[Makkin]

  Knowing what's in the plane as it travels through the UK is something already taken care of and all that is seen is something similar to a breach of airspace...or is it.

[possum]

So, if I want to give the US government a piece of my mind all I have to do is say Obama's name over the phone, and I'll be heard?. I will keep that in mind..

[docetae]

Nothing to spy ...just showing that Russia is back. The Tupolev has even name of a ww2 hero...

[Faux Pas]

So, if I want to give the US government a piece of my mind all I have to do is say Obama's name over the phone, and I'll be heard?. I will keep that in mind..

That is not as far-fetched as you may think

[possum]

That is not as far-fetched as you may think

Why, I stopped believing in free speech a long time ago.. In this day and age no one is free and nothing is private..

[BillyB]

So, if I want to give the US government a piece of my mind all I have to do is say Obama's name over the phone, and I'll be heard?. I will keep that in mind..

Maybe not in this country or not just saying Obama's name. If you were in Afghanistan and you said "I like Obama" on the phone, your conversation may not be picked up by the computers but if you say "I want to murder Obama", then your call will be locked onto and traced.

I have no problem with this as long as it's not misused or abused. When my Iraqi friend in America calls his dad in Iraq, his dad got thrown in jail during the Saddam years simply because he has a son living in America. I understand the benefits of eavesdropping if it saves lives and keeps the country safe. The benefits outweigh the costs.  The alternative is to do nothing except watch competing nations steal your technology and leave you in the dust.

[possum]

Maybe not in this country or not just saying Obama's name. If you were in Afghanistan and you said "I like Obama" on the phone, your conversation may not be picked up by the computers but if you say "I want to murder Obama", then your call will be locked onto and traced.

I have no problem with this as long as it's not misused or abused. When my Iraqi friend in America calls his dad in Iraq, his dad got thrown in jail during the Saddam years simply because he has a son living in America. I understand the benefits of eavesdropping if it saves lives and keeps the country safe. The benefits outweigh the costs.  The alternative is to do nothing except watch competing nations steal your technology and leave you in the dust.

If this technology is out there it will most certainly be abused.. Illegal phone taps, anyone? Sorry, but I don't like the idea of Big Brother watching over me or anyone else for that matter and taking away my privacy and safety(!) in the name of 'protecting' me from dangers that may or may not exist.. Thanks but no thanks.. I'd rather be on my own in a free land than safe and looked after in a totalitarian state.. Too bad there are fewer and fewer free societies in the world.

[Seeker]

If this technology is out there it will most certainly be abused.. Illegal phone taps, anyone? Sorry, but I don't like the idea of Big Brother watching over me or anyone else for that matter and taking away my privacy and safety(!) in the name of 'protecting' me from dangers that may or may not exist.. Thanks but no thanks.. I'd rather be on my own in a free land than safe and looked after in a totalitarian state.. Too bad there are fewer and fewer free societies in the world.

Well said.  I agree with you completely.  It worries me how far we have already let it go.  Well, 'we' didn't let it, 'we' just don't do anything to stop it.  I wonder, is it because of a feeling of powerlessness, or is it apathy... or something else?  Probably a combination of many things.