Daily News (New York) October 17, 2002
PLANES CAN GET SHOT OF SCENE IN A SNAP
By RICHARD SISK
WASHINGTON - The Crazy Hawks of the Army who fly the RC-7 spy planes were ready yesterday to get a quicker fix on the Beltway sniper and direct police to block a getaway.
Pentagon officials would not say where or when the four-engine, all-weather RC-7s would fly, but military analysts said the long-range imagery and sensing gear on the aircraft would greatly enhance the ability of police to track the sniper.
"This one airplane is capable of putting a camera on the scene anywhere around the Beltway," said John Pike, director of the globalsecurity.org think tank. The RC-7 could train its high-resolution, day-night cameras on the scene of a 911 call instantly and save the vital minutes it would take police to send a helicopter to the location, Pike said.
The Army also was making available U-21 aircraft, a modified version of the civilian twin-engine propeller Beechcraft, to aid in the sniper hunt, military sources said. The U-21s are packed with gear similar to the RC-7s but have a shorter range.
The RC-7s are designated "aerial reconnaissance low." The term stands for low profile, rather than low altitude, because they resemble civilian planes but fly much higher.
Pentagon officials stressed FBI agents will be aboard with the seven-member Army crew - who call themselves the Crazy Hawks - to relay information, because federal law bars the military from involvement in law enforcement.
The Army developed the RC-7 to track drug dealers in Central and South America. The planes also have been used extensively in peacekeeping operations, and they patrol the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
Copyright 2002 Daily News (New York)
