Cable News Network April 4, 2001; Wednesday
Satellite Images Show Web Browsers American Spy Plane
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now from Washington to help explain what we're looking at is John Pike from Globalsecurity.org, a nonprofit organization which provides analysis on defense, intelligence, space issues.
Mr. Pike, I hope that you can see all of this as we are joining -- as you join us now from Washington.
JOHN PIKE: Right. Glad to be here.
FRAZIER: We have this spectacular Web site here, which is makes possible the chance to see what is going on inside this plane. Let's look for example at one of the stations we would like to highlight. Here is the whole plane, in, you know, it's a bird's-eye view above the fuselage. And here's a position which in the moment, we can actually see up close. And I have to hit it a little bit harder again. And it keeps telling me, it doesn't like that. Let's try another one. Is that red?
OK. I don't know, Mr. Pike, if you can see this. What I would like to know is, what do you think that all of this does and who sits here?
PIKE: Well I am not able to check the numbering on these stations here. But each of these stations has an assigned number where the operator is responsible for one of the particular collection systems on the aircraft. Now, if you look at the outside of the aircraft, you can see that it's literally bristling with antennas; far more antennas on the outside than they have console operators on the inside.
FRAZIER: Let's go back inside to that if we can.
PIKE: So, each of these console operators that are going to have multiple antennas on the outside that they are responsible for collecting the information -- see, a couple of antennas beneath the wing that they would use for direction finding, for instance.
And you can see the dome underneath the airplane and the front -- that big black hump on the back of the airplane. They have literally dozens of antennas on each. And each of the console operators on the inside are going to be using the computers on the aircraft to decide which of these antennas will be collecting against which radios? Which radars? And using very sophisticated software to analyze what is being intercepted moment by moment. And then to decide, is this a old radar at a old location that we are already monitoring? Or is it a new radar and that we need to collect a lot more information on?
FRAZIER: In fact, as you describe all this, Mr. Pike, we are looking at the Web site now at an entire bank of crew stations 15-19. All of them special systems operators; I guess all of them having a specified job, doing what you are describing now.
PIKE: Each one of these will have a particular set of antennas on the outside, a special suite of software running on that console, to enable them to interpret the signals as they are coming in. Some of them will be trying to monitor radio communication's traffic. Others are going to be focused specifically on air defense radars, and basically, they are going to be flying down the Chinese coast. Or the coast of any other country that they might be operating against to sort of update our phone book, to update our electronic order of battle so that we have a complete tactical picture of the air defense, military communications network in the country that they are operating against.
It's an enormous amount of information that all of those antennas can bring in. And an enormous amount of information that's being recorded on the tape recorders in the airplane and it's the responsibility of the console operators to decide if this is something new that we need to learn about, or have we simply discovered what we already knew?
FRAZIER: Now, as I understand you, Mr. Pike, from our chat; before we actually turned to the satellite picture, we will ask you to analyze that for us, but I also understand that part of the intelligence gathered is how we intercept that we flying along, knowing that we will provoke jets to scramble and to intercept an American plane and fly alongside.
PIKE: That is part of the game of cat-and-mouse, that the United States and the China and the United States and the Soviet Union and many of the other countries are playing for the last half-century or so. On our side, when our surveillance plane is flying along, this gives us the opportunity to see their air defense network in action.
Frankly, on their side, it gives them some free target practice. Because it enables them to scramble their jet interceptors and go against a non-cooperative target such as our airplane. But it's more than simply air defense.
FRAZIER: Let me take you back, if I may up to that satellite photo, which we've
just secured. And ask, since you have some expertise in reading these: what
you are able to learn from looking at it in this resolution.
PIKE: Well, this is the first time since I have seen this image and had not had the opportunity to look at it in any detail. I think the thing that I am immediately struck by is how quickly they were able to get the image. This is quite a breakthrough in satellite news gathering, that we're able to get the satellite image almost as quickly as the classified community is. At first glance, the thing that I was looking for and don't immediately see is the Chinese taking the airplane apart. There had been some reports and certainly a lot of concerns that, as soon as the Chinese released the photographs of the plane yesterday, that they would take a chain saw to this airplane and start ripping it apart.
There doesn't immediately seem to be of what I expected to see, a big cluster of Chinese technicians or vans or trucks around the airplane and trying to take the black boxes out of them. And of course, this picture is nearly 24 hours old now, and maybe they've been taking it apart earlier today.
FRAZIER: Well, we'll look forward to your expertise as we get more pictures, but for now, we thank you for joining us. John Pike with Globalsecurity.org. It's nice to talk with you again.
PIKE: Thank you.
copyright 2001 Cable News Network
