Thread by @steffanwatkins

Sounds like the new German #OpenSkiesTreaty plane has terrified the NSC, and while they're incapable of understanding what intelligence might be given up, they're sure whatever it is will be bad, and they don't want anything to do with it.

Sounds like anxiety; see a doctor.

"infra-red .. may also be used during overflights with minimum ground resolution values of 50 cm .. for the resulting images."

Open Skies: Aerial Observation to Help Prevent Conflicts Between Countries
Gordon Petrie, University of Glasgow (2007)

researchgate.net/publication/32…

No #OpenSkiesTreaty sensor configurations presently certify the use of IR, but Turkey had previously been using "the old Honeywell AN-AA5 infra-red line scanner"
I'm not sure what the history is there, but they are no longer/haven't been using it lately.

#IRLS #OpenSkiesTreaty

I found the Honeywell AN-AA5 mentioned in 1969; 50cm resolution for IRLS is not very cutting edge, but the NSC will tell the world the Russians are using high technology to subvert U.S. national security. Sorry, 50cm LSIR is rudimentary, that's why it's included in the treaty.

"Two contracts totaling $11,300,000 went to Texas Instruments Inc for AN/AA5-24 infrared detecting sets and other electronic equipment "

May 1969
Army Research and Development News Magazine
Page 17
books.google.ca/books?id=ku7CJ…

Soon you'll see the NSC, through their media proxies, spread #disinformation that German Open Skies Treaty plane will have "new" 50cm Infra Red Line Scanning tech, and it's a threat to U.S. national security; even though t he treaty limited the resolution to 1969 levels.
#IRLS

Slippery slope; if you allow those shifty Germans the capability of flying over the United States with a sensor capable to taking images at 1969-tech levels, you'll need to allow the Russians the exact same thing b/c *checks notes* that's exactly what Bush had always intended. 😱

The hit to the ego at the NRO & DIA must be devastating; the Germans will be able to take 50cm IR over Russia, at ridiculously low cost (flying an A319), with a COTS digital IR sensor, keep all imagery unclassified, AND share the tamper-proof digital pics with 34 countries.

The U.S. says their space-borne sensors are better than the Open Skies Treaty sensors, but 50cm IR is all that's allowed, which is 1969 tech; so I'd hope they would be more advanced by now. How much did that cost, and does it continue to cost? WAY more than Open Skies flights.

Better still, if the United States stays in the treaty, and certifies the German plane, they can purchase a copy (at cost of reproduction) of all the German IR imagery of Russia without buying anything. That must stick in someone's craw, or they don't want the public to know. 🤷‍♂️

To spell it out, it sure sounds like any American objection to the German LSIR they're testing is sour grapes; they don't want Congress or the public to know the USAF is invited to stop by Russia 16 times/yr, and take all the 30cm visual/50cm IR pics they want; up to 5500km/trip.

AND have virtually free access to all imagery everyone else has taken of every one of the 34 signatory countries. The Open Skies Treaty is so cheap it looks like lunch money to the NRO, and the money the NRO spends goes direct to the MIC who make a killing on spy satellites. 🤔

Who funds Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), therefore directly support his efforts to kill the Open Skies Treaty? The arms industry, specifically the missile industry. Best part? He owns it and doesn't hide it. He said openly, money should be reallocated from Open Skies to weapons of war.

*#IRLS (not LSIR)