Steffan Watkins  Profile picture
May 21, 2023 13 tweets 11 min read Read on X
There's nothing that reinforces the stupidity of mankind like Facebook drama.

Two #USAF C-17 Globemasters (09-9212 #AE49C8 #RCH745 & 10-0214 #AE4D67 #RCH435) landed at in Calgary YYC and the USAF asked the Ground Handling Company to enforce a ban on pictures and video of the… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… ImageImageImage
Our review starts on 2023-05-13 when #RCH435 took off from Charleston and flew to JBA. #AE4D67
globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae49c8,a… Image
On 2023-05-14 #RCH705 departed Charleston heading NW, and #RCH435 departed JBA heading NW too.
globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae49c8,a…
#AE49C8 #AE4D67 Image
#USAF C-17 10-0214 #RCH435 beat #RCH705 to South Korea, arriving on 2023-05-15 while 09-9212 was still somewhere around Alaska. Both are using Mode-S and ADS-C, not ADS-B. Image
#RCH705 arrived in South Korea on 2023-05-16. Image
#USAF C-17 09-9212 (now #RCH745) and 10-0214 (still #RCH435) arrived in Calgary #YYC #CYYC on 2023-05-17, and the USAF asked that nobody take any pictures. 😂

#AE49C8 #AE4D67 Image
After taking a whole day off, they departed on 2023-05-19 for JBA and Charleston.

NONE of that was a secret, none of it needed Facebook admin "moderation".

globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae49c8,a… Image
As I told Vice Motherboard's Ben Sullivan in 2017, Facebook is garbage for OSINT research collaboration. It's not just that I might not search and find the content, overzealous moderators will deliberately block your access to public information, as they did in Calgary on May 17. ImageImage
An American military VIP seems to have flown in on the day they were on the ground, which is not a regular occurrence and is likely related. Americans were training at Wainwright with the CAF, but why wouldn't they get picked up in Edmonton?

Also, if it was a big ammo shipment I'd expect it to go to CFAD Dundurn, I'm sure Calgary wouldn't be the most convenient drop off.
By the way, I'm guessing they kept on course and landed in South Korea. They appear to have gone out of MLAT range and were only picked up again flying toward Alaska when they left, then appeared near Calgary - there are gaps in coverage, but they certainly weren't shipping… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
They landed about a half hour apart on May 17 ~17:15Z/17:45Z which is just before noon, it couldn't have been a more noticeable landing.

I wonder how many pictures were taken of them from satellites as they passed over YYC? No, I don't mean our satellites. 😂 Image
#USAF C-37A 97-01944 #AE0405 bizjet landed about 24 hours later, which seems weird if it was a coordinated stop as #PAT94

globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=ae49c8,a… Image

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More from @steffanwatkins

Jun 17
🇨🇦⚓️ Since the Royal Canadian Navy refuse to take pictures or publicise the RCN's operation tailing the Russian Navy since June 1, once again the Americans will do the work for us. Thanks DVIDS! You keep Canadians better informed than our PAOs. 🧵
📸 Taken June 9, Published June 14

ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 09, 2024) Canadian Navy Cmdr. Peter McNeil, commanding officer of the Canadian Halifax-class frigate #HMCSVilledeQuébec (FFH 332), and U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Johnathan Carter, commanding officer of the Legend-class cutter U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone (WMSL 758), identify a Russian naval vessel from Stone’s bridgewing in the Western Atlantic June 9, 2024. U.S. maritime forces, in conjunction with allies and partners, consistently monitor the activity of foreign vessels operating within the U.S. Second Fleet area of operations in support of homeland defense. The U.S. Navy protects international law and safeguards freedom of navigation for all nations. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ens. Alana Kickhoefer/Released)Image
📸 Taken June 6, Published June 14

ATLANTIC OCEAN (June 06, 2024) The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG 75) identifies a Russian naval vessel in the U.S. Second Fleet area of operations June 6, 2024. U.S. maritime forces, in conjunction with allies and partners, consistently monitor the activity of foreign vessels operating within the U.S. Second Fleet area of operations in support of homeland defense. The U.S. Navy protects international law and safeguards freedom of navigation for all nations. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ens. Alana Kickhoefer/Released)Image
Read 12 tweets
Jun 10
🇷🇺 On May 17 the Russian MoD announced a flotilla of Russian Navy Northern Fleet ships departed Severomorsk for a long out of area deployment. Within a week, they had published a high quality video of Frigate Admiral Gorshkov performing exercises in the Atlantic. #ВМФ #СФ
The four vessels in the flotilla are:

Project 22350 Frigate Admiral Gorshkov, commissioned July 26, 2018

russianships.info/eng/warships/p…
Project 885M Yasen-M class SSGN Kazan (K-561), commissioned May 7, 2021

russianships.info/eng/submarines…
Read 22 tweets
Mar 13
🇨🇦🇮🇱 About an hour ago #RCAF CC-130J Hercules 130603 #C2B53F fell victim to Israeli GNSS/GPS spoofing & jamming. 130603's transponder ceased transmitting accurate position data, then stopped transmitting position data at all.
globe.adsbexchange.com/?icao=c2b53f&l…
Image
It is unclear if flight #CFC2503 is air-dropping relief to Gaza, or transiting near #Israel.

It is clear that Israel is not pausing their months long electronic warfare attack on all civilian and military aviation in line of sight, and the media doesn't want to mention it.
(link showing documented GPS jamming will only work after March 13, ie, March 14+) h/t @lemonodor

gpsjam.org/?lat=32.82722&…
Read 4 tweets
Jan 26
🇨🇦⚓ Royal Canadian Navy Harry DeWolf-class arctic and offshore patrol vessel HMCS Margaret Brooke departed Halifax on January 12 for a six week #OpCARIBBE deployment. 🧵

#AOPV431 IMO:4702515 MMSI:316014540
call sign:CGMB #HMCSMargaretBrooke
marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details…
Read 11 tweets
Aug 11, 2023
🇨🇦⚓️ Where #HMCSMontréal has been since March 26, when they departed Halifax on #OpPROJECTION, using @MarineTraffic AIS-T and AIS-S data. 🧵

This thread serves as a guide, to you the reader, of what to look for in Royal Canadian Navy communications; it's your crackerjack box secret decoder ring when they're vague.

All of this information has been broadcast by the ship's AIS transponder over the airwaves, picked up with every SIGINT satellite in orbit, military and commercial, every plane in line-of-sight(LOS), collected by every significant adversary, and included in a dossier with other intelligence, that was reported up their chain of command, before I woke up this morning.

Our military and government public affairs officials can, without compromising national security, speak plainly and include everything up to (at least) this level of information, because every adversary already knows; they told them. They got the memo.

This is also the minimum amount of detail that the public should expect in any media story about HMCS Montréal's deployment; all this information is at journalists' fingertips too. Public affairs should be more forthright to make journalists' lives easier. This information isn't a secret to the outside world.

All times in UTC, unless otherwise mentioned.
🇨🇦⚓️ Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class multi-role patrol frigate #HMCSMontréal's first port of call was Lisbon for 4 days from April 4 to April 8.

Fighting erupted in Sudan on April 15. #OpPROJECTION

🇨🇦⚓️ #HMCSMontréal arrived at the Port Said anchorage on April 17, traversed the Suez Canal into the Red Sea on April 18, then stopped transmitting AIS from April 19 until they arrived in Salalah, Oman on May 8. #OpPROJECTION

Read 54 tweets
May 24, 2023
🇬🇧 41% (9) of the RAF A400M Atlas fleet of 22 do not fly. Of the remaining 59% (13) that do fly, some of them are deployable, and some are homebodies doing training and certification. #ZM406 returned from the Airbus depot in Getafe, Spain 🇪🇸. Image
🇬🇧 RAF C-130J Hercules #ZH869 #43C198 was sent to Cambridge 🇬🇧 to be decommissioned, bringing the number of Hercs remaining to 5, all of which are flying regularly, except #ZH870 #43C04C hasn't flown in a week.. maybe they're next? 🪦
+ No coverage of the Herc flight to Benghazi. Image
🇬🇧 Only RAF C-17 Globemaster (#ZZ172 #43C172) hasn't flown for over a month; it's probably undergoing indepth maintenance. 88% of the fleet is regularly in the air. Image
Read 4 tweets

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