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You don't think the US military is providing for all of Ukraine's satellite intelligence needs?

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
lmc 4y ago
https://breakingdefense.com/2022/04/how-us-intel-worked-with-commercial-satellite-firms-to-reveal-ukraine-info/ https://breakingdefense.com/2022/04/how-us-intel-worked-with...
GlenTheMachine 4y ago
I think it’s very, very unlikely. It would risk giving away information on the capabilities of US national security assets. Which is classified literally as highly as it is possible to classify. We don’t even let the Five Eyes know that stuff, much less hand it to non-aligned militaries who we can’t vet. Plus, it doesn’t appear to be needed. The Russian military is proving to be god-awful at even basic field ops like camouflaging their vehicles.
- nradov 4y ago
  Too late. President Trump already publicly gave away information on the capabilities of US spy satellites in 2019. https://news.yahoo.com/trump-tweeted-classified-satellite-image-of-iran-former-officials-fallout-100003879.html https://news.yahoo.com/trump-tweeted-classified-satellite-im...
  - tick_tock_tick 4y ago
    "gave away" old tech that just confirmed what everyone assumed. Your article even states it's not our best and most of the security agencies cared more about the process of how he did it then the image itself.
    - emteycz 4y ago
      The article states both that it was and that it wasn't the best. It doesn't judge.
- enriquto 4y ago
  > It would risk giving away information on the capabilities of US national security assets. But the actual satellites can be seen with the naked eye, and their orbits are known. The resolution is a linear function of their height, so it can be easily inferred, or at least bounded, by that of a "hubble" at a much lower height. If they are really worried about this scalar piece of data, they can easily blur the images before transferring them to ukraine. Not that it makes a lot of difference to see a column of tanks at 30cm or at 15cm pixels.
  - GlenTheMachine 4y ago
    "The resolution is a linear function of their height..." Incorrect. Even in the consumer camera space, resolution is a function of distance, native sensor resolution, lens magnification, lens quality, shutter speed (because the target is moving), stability of the tripod, etc. Same thing is true of orbital imagery: your effective resolution is a function of your optics, your sensor, the ability of your attitude control system to hold a steady pointing vector, etc. Also, "capability" != "resolution". What frequency bands is that satellite imaging in? Visible, SWIR, LWIR, ultraviolet? What is the effective magnification of its optics? Is it an optical system at all, or is it an RF bird? Is it all of the above? Does it just take top down snapshots, or can it track moving targets? If the latter how fast can it track? Fast enough to keep up with a tank, or fast enough to keep up with a fighter plane? How many frames per pass can it take? How fast can it slew to get multiple objects in the same pass? Etc.
    - areoform 4y ago
      Hey Glen, Is there some way to email you? There isn't any contact information on your profile.
      - GlenTheMachine 4y ago
        Hi. Nice blog you have. I left a comment.
        4y ago
- tomc1985 4y ago
  > It would risk giving away information on the capabilities of US national security assets. Trump already did this when that Iranian something-or-another blew up (missile silo? nuclear reactor?) a few years ago, and he provided classified satellite images to the pubic Beyond that, sure
speed_spread 4y ago
I'd guess the US military would not share their own sat feeds for fear of revealing their capabilities, they certainly could share techniques to exploit commercial sats in an effective manner for military purposes.
bluGill 4y ago
I expect the US us giving the analysis not the images. Ukraine generally shouldn't be looking at raw images, they need data to inform how and where to attack, but the us has experts to provide that thus allowing more people to go to the front.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

lmc 4y ago

https://breakingdefense.com/2022/04/how-us-intel-worked-with-commercial-satellite-firms-to-reveal-ukraine-info/ https://breakingdefense.com/2022/04/how-us-intel-worked-with...

GlenTheMachine 4y ago

I think it’s very, very unlikely. It would risk giving away information on the capabilities of US national security assets. Which is classified literally as highly as it is possible to classify. We don’t even let the Five Eyes know that stuff, much less hand it to non-aligned militaries who we can’t vet. Plus, it doesn’t appear to be needed. The Russian military is proving to be god-awful at even basic field ops like camouflaging their vehicles.

nradov 4y ago
Too late. President Trump already publicly gave away information on the capabilities of US spy satellites in 2019. https://news.yahoo.com/trump-tweeted-classified-satellite-image-of-iran-former-officials-fallout-100003879.html https://news.yahoo.com/trump-tweeted-classified-satellite-im...
- tick_tock_tick 4y ago
  "gave away" old tech that just confirmed what everyone assumed. Your article even states it's not our best and most of the security agencies cared more about the process of how he did it then the image itself.
  - emteycz 4y ago
    The article states both that it was and that it wasn't the best. It doesn't judge.
enriquto 4y ago
> It would risk giving away information on the capabilities of US national security assets. But the actual satellites can be seen with the naked eye, and their orbits are known. The resolution is a linear function of their height, so it can be easily inferred, or at least bounded, by that of a "hubble" at a much lower height. If they are really worried about this scalar piece of data, they can easily blur the images before transferring them to ukraine. Not that it makes a lot of difference to see a column of tanks at 30cm or at 15cm pixels.
- GlenTheMachine 4y ago
  "The resolution is a linear function of their height..." Incorrect. Even in the consumer camera space, resolution is a function of distance, native sensor resolution, lens magnification, lens quality, shutter speed (because the target is moving), stability of the tripod, etc. Same thing is true of orbital imagery: your effective resolution is a function of your optics, your sensor, the ability of your attitude control system to hold a steady pointing vector, etc. Also, "capability" != "resolution". What frequency bands is that satellite imaging in? Visible, SWIR, LWIR, ultraviolet? What is the effective magnification of its optics? Is it an optical system at all, or is it an RF bird? Is it all of the above? Does it just take top down snapshots, or can it track moving targets? If the latter how fast can it track? Fast enough to keep up with a tank, or fast enough to keep up with a fighter plane? How many frames per pass can it take? How fast can it slew to get multiple objects in the same pass? Etc.
  - areoform 4y ago
    Hey Glen, Is there some way to email you? There isn't any contact information on your profile.
    - GlenTheMachine 4y ago
      Hi. Nice blog you have. I left a comment.
      - 4y ago
tomc1985 4y ago
> It would risk giving away information on the capabilities of US national security assets. Trump already did this when that Iranian something-or-another blew up (missile silo? nuclear reactor?) a few years ago, and he provided classified satellite images to the pubic Beyond that, sure

speed_spread 4y ago

I'd guess the US military would not share their own sat feeds for fear of revealing their capabilities, they certainly could share techniques to exploit commercial sats in an effective manner for military purposes.

bluGill 4y ago

I expect the US us giving the analysis not the images. Ukraine generally shouldn't be looking at raw images, they need data to inform how and where to attack, but the us has experts to provide that thus allowing more people to go to the front.