Pentagon to field more sophisticated surveillance on Pak-Afghan border

ISLAMABAD: The Pentagon is considering adding more sophisticated surveillance equipment to trap Osama Bin Laden and his top aide, Al-Zawahri, along the Pak-Afghan border, reported CNN quoting official sources.

The decision to send the E-8 Joint Stars and RC-135 to the Pak-Afghan border region hasn’t been made yet, but sources said capabilities of both aircrafts would be crucial to tracking down Osama Bin Laden in the area. E-8 Joint Stars, the long-range, aerial surveillance aircraft, can locate, classify and track ground targets in any type of weather and can receive a video feed from a predator drone and mark targets for attack, it said. RC-135 Rivet Joint, another sophisticated a long-range, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, can travel more than 500 metre per hour (mph), sources added.

Besides unmanned Predator drones, U-2 spy plane, satellite communication, unattended ground sensors, satellite communication, border search, the E-8 Joint Stars and RC-135 Rivet Joint would supplement ground forces to trap down the OBL and his top aides in the area. Unmanned Predator drones, flying at 25,000 feet, are equipped with cameras that can spot vehicles and people, and special radar that can operate through clouds.

U-2 spy planes which fly above 70,000 feet, can take photographs using radar and intercepting communications. The United States designed the U-2 planes in 1955 to spy on the Soviet Union. The plans can reach speeds higher than 475 mph. Ground sensors may be placed either buried by troops or dropped from a plane along mountain passes. The sensors detect sound and motion of vehicles and give information to military analysts via satellite. online

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