USA Today October 17, 2002
Military loaner could sharpen the hunt's focus
By Dave Moniz and Andrea Stone
WASHINGTON - The spy plane that the Pentagon has loaned out for use in the sniper investigation is loaded with sophisticated night-vision cameras that can transmit images immediately to police on the ground.
John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org and an authority on military hardware, says the four-engine RC-7 turboprop could be an effective tool in hunting the elusive killer. "Its cameras are much more powerful than police cameras, and because it flies so high, it can cover a much larger area," Pike says.
The Pentagon approved on Tuesday the use of Army RC-7 reconnaissance planes to help hunt the sniper who has killed nine people in the past two weeks. The Army has six RC-7s, but it was not known how many will fly over metropolitan Washington, a region of 5 million people.
The cameras aboard the RC-7 have a range of several dozen miles and can focus on a single automobile. The aircraft usually has a crew of seven and monitors the ground with radar, video cameras and infrared sensors that allow it to film at night and in bad weather.
Police hope the RC-7 will loiter above Washington and, in the event of another shooting, train its surveillance equipment on the scene immediately after an attack is reported. The aircraft's crew would track vehicles headed from the crime scene and provide real-time video images to police on the ground.
In past shootings, witnesses have said they saw a white or cream-colored van or truck speeding from the scene. But the sniper has eluded roadblocks and police dragnets every time.
The RC-7 resembles a small commercial plane so it can blend into the skies. Its infrared sensors can detect gun flashes, experts say, but only in a small area.
Federal law prohibits the use of active-duty military personnel in domestic police roles. To get around that, military officials say they will only operate the plane for the local police, who will direct its actions and analyze all information.
There are precedents for military aircraft taking part in surveillance inside the USA. During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, National Guard helicopters flew thousands of security and surveillance missions over the city. Guard helicopter crews also routinely fly federal agents around the country searching for marijuana fields and drug smugglers.
Some experts are skeptical about the effectiveness of the RC-7 in this case.
"I'm not sure why they chose this one," says Chris Bolkcom, an aviation analyst with the Congressional Research Service.
He says a more logical choice would be the military's Predator and Global Hawk unmanned drones, which can stay airborne for 40 hours or longer. The RC-7, developed in the 1980s to track drug smugglers in Latin America, can remain aloft for about 8 hours.
However, the drones are in great demand for the war on terrorism and may have difficulty being integrated into a metropolitan area whose skies are filled with commercial and private aircraft.
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