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al-Qaeda's 22 Tips and Tricks To Dodge Drones

Posted by Soulskill on from the john-connor-consulting dept.

Dr Max writes "Ever wonder how al-Qaeda operates under the watchful eye of the U.S. Army? Well, the Associated Press found a list of 22 of their tips and tricks on avoiding drone strikes. Most of it consists of the obvious: stay in the shadows or under thick trees, don't use wireless communications. However, there are also some less obvious solutions, like the $2,595 Russian 'sky grabber, which can track the drones. Their document (PDF) also suggests covering your roof and car with broken glass. They also claim good snipers can take out the reconnaissance drones, which fly at a lower level. Now the question is: will all of this still be relevant during the robo-apocalypse?"

13 of 303 comments (clear)

  1. sounds like a great mythbusters episode... by Angturil · · Score: 5, Interesting

    does hiding under a tree really protect your from a predator drone?

    1. Re:sounds like a great mythbusters episode... by Dupple · · Score: 5, Funny

      1. Don’t be a terrorist.
      2. If you are a terrorist, hide behind some civilians.
      3. ????
      4. Prophet!

      --
      Watch those corners
    2. Re:sounds like a great mythbusters episode... by MartinSchou · · Score: 5, Insightful

      1a) Don't look like you might be a terrorist
      1b) Don't look like the stereotypical terrorist
      1c) Don't look like 1a or 1b in blurry pictures
      1d) Don't look like you might be a Muslim
      1e) Don't live in countries that contain people who fit 1, 1a or 1b

    3. Re:sounds like a great mythbusters episode... by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Informative

      Freedom fighters can't do this? True, unless they're Jewish.

      Then? They can bomb hotels full of Brits, or whatever they really want to.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
  2. Second type of target... by FriendlyLurker · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Children, and according to standford/NYU study:

    Following nine months of intensive research—including two investigations in Pakistan, more than 130 interviews with victims, witnesses, and experts, and review of thousands of pages of documentation and media reporting—this report presents evidence of the damaging and counterproductive effects of current US drone strike policies. Based on extensive interviews with Pakistanis living in the regions directly affected, as well as humanitarian and medical workers, this report provides new and firsthand testimony about the negative impacts US policies are having on the civilians living under drones.

    It is like those holding the reins want to create terrorists, must not be enough already to justify the defence spending we already have - good for MIC business.

    1. Re:Second type of target... by thogard · · Score: 5, Funny

      Just for that comment, I've marked you as a "foe" on the /. comment system.

      Now where is my defence money?

    2. Re:Second type of target... by medcalf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      For the moment, let's put aside the argument of whether or not drone strikes create terrorists overall. They might, but I'm betting that we can build missiles faster than they can recruit people. Instead, I'd like to focus on your closing arguments:

      These drone strikes are not only cowardly

      In what way are drone strikes cowardly? Are air strikes cowardly? Is artillery cowardly? And even if I were to grant your assumption of cowardice, what obligates me to fight on the same ground as the enemy? Why should I play to his strengths? Am I supposed to hijack airliners and fly them into houses in Pakistan, because that's the best jihadis can do? Or send suicide bombers and plant roadside bombs, because those are their most effective means of fighting? War is not an arena for fairness. War is an awful thing, and the best thing that can be done is to end it as fast as possible, and doing that requires killing the enemy until he realizes that you will not stop, and he will not prevail, and his only option is to quit fighting. Frankly, the only problem I see with the drone strikes is that they are too slow. (Great for killing leaders, but not so good at ending the overall problem.)

      they are morally questionable when they are going to have such "collateral damage"

      I already addressed that one. The morally questionable behavior is that which puts civilians at risk: the jihadis fighting without uniforms and hiding amongs civilians. If it were otherwise, the enemy need only strap children to his tanks and roll forward to beat you. The purpose of the rules about perfidy is to protect civilians from harm, and it is the enemy, not us, who are endangering those civilians. Their choices are to stop fighting us, to follow the laws of war, or to be responsible for the deaths of the civilians they shelter among. They have chosen the latter. We are not thereby required to not fight them there, and indeed it would be morally reprehensible to do so because it would endanger future civilian lives by increasing the benefit to enemies of hiding among civilians.

      at best they are a recruiting sargeant for the terrorist's cause

      Possibly so, but what is the alternative? To not fight? Hell, we've effectively given the jihadis most of what they wanted over the past couple of years, most notably with the abandonment of the Musharraf regime, pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the war against Libya. All that we need to do to complete the agenda that they originally attacked us for is to throw the Saudis and Jordanians under the bus, and they've nearly completed their first major objective: the overthrow of the regimes in the area and their replacement by regimes unwilling or unable to contest the jihadi cause. Their second major objective, establishing a caliphate, would doubtless follow soon thereafter, where "soon" means after a long, bloody war between Sunni and Shi'a that makes the Reformation look like a Sunday picnic.

      But hey, at least the jihadis wouldn't be fighting us, right? Except that they would, and for the same reason they fight Israel or India or the many other places they fight: it builds jihadi street cred to attack the infidels just as much as it does to spread Islam to new regions. So of course they would continue to attack us, as a means of increasing their domestic support in their war against other jihadi factions. So really, we're back to a very old dictum: we may not be interested in war, but war is interested in us.

      --
      -- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
  3. all on one page?! by jehan60188 · · Score: 5, Funny

    impressed that it's all on one page, instead of spread out with one tip per page, and advertisements after every 5 pages

  4. Re:now we have a list! by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fuck that, I'm throwing some broken glass on this thread: *:ï½¥ï¾Yâoe*:ï½¥ï¾Yâoe*:ï½¥ï¾Yâoe*:ï½¥ï¾Yâoe*:ï½¥ï¾Yâoe*:ï½¥ï¾Yâoe

    --
    Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
  5. Busted: Hiding behind civilians doesn't stop them by dtmancom · · Score: 5, Informative

    Last I heard, hiding behind citizens does not stop a predator drone pilot from firing, and he will then be awarded a medal for taking out your sister's wedding party.

  6. tl;dr: the list by arielCo · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's mostly about hiding from the drones, "jamming" their communications (low tech), and general asymmetric-warfare advice:

    1 – It is possible to know the intention and the mission of the drone by using the Russian-made “sky grabber” device to infiltrate the drone’s waves and the frequencies. The device is available in the market for $2,595 and the one who operates it should be a computer know-how.
    2 – Using devices that broadcast frequencies or pack of frequencies to disconnect the contacts and confuse the frequencies used to control the drone. The Mujahideen have had successful experiments using the Russian-made “Racal.”
    3 – Spreading the reflective pieces of glass on a car or on the roof of the building.
    4 – Placing a group of skilled snipers to hunt the drone, especially the reconnaissance ones because they fly low, about six kilometers or less.
    5 – Jamming of and confusing of electronic communication using the ordinary water-lifting dynamo fitted with a 30-meter copper pole.
    6 – Jamming of and confusing of electronic communication using old equipment and keeping them 24-hour running because of their strong frequencies and it is possible using simple ideas of deception of equipment to attract the electronic waves devices similar to that used by the Yugoslav army when they used the microwave (oven) in attracting and confusing the NATO missiles fitted with electromagnetic searching devices.
    7 – Using general confusion methods and not to use permanent headquarters.
    8 – Discovering the presence of a drone through well-placed reconnaissance networks and to warn all the formations to halt any movement in the area.
    9 – To hide from being directly or indirectly spotted, especially at night.
    10 – To hide under thick trees because they are the best cover against the planes.
    11 – To stay in places unlit by the sun such as the shadows of the buildings or the trees.
    12 – Maintain complete silence of all wireless contacts.
    13 – Disembark of vehicles and keep away from them especially when being chased or during combat.
    14 – To deceive the drone by entering places of multiple entrances and exits.
    15 – Using underground shelters because the missiles fired by these planes are usually of the fragmented anti-personnel and not anti-buildings type.
    16 – To avoid gathering in open areas and in urgent cases, use building of multiple doors or exits.
    17 – Forming anti-spies groups to look for spies and agents.
    18 – Formation of fake gatherings such as using dolls and statutes to be placed outside false ditches to mislead the enemy.
    19 – When discovering that a drone is after a car, leave the car immediately and everyone should go in different direction because the planes are unable to get after everyone.
    20 – Using natural barricades like forests and caves when there is an urgent need for training or gathering.

    --
    This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
  7. Hide from IR cameras on drones. by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Get yourself TWO "space blankets" and separate the two with a regular blanket. put it over you and go. You have about 60-120 seconds before your body heat will raise the outer blanket above background temperatures.

    This trick has been used to fool FLIR cameras for a very long time and is easily carried unlike a 6'X6' piece of glass that is far more effective at it and a lot longer duration.

    Also be sure you are not a moron and wearing "flip flops" or other crap shoes that allow a lot of heat to escape and leave thermal footprints on the ground.

    Note: if they are using FLIR and searchlights, you need to cover the outisde space blanket with a couple layers of camo netting or you will stand out as a giant silver alien.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  8. Re:Busted: Hiding behind civilians doesn't stop th by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    From Drone attacks in Pakistan: Statistics

    As of January 2013, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates the following cumulative statistics about US drone strikes:[2][17]

            Total strikes: 362
            Total reported killed: 2,629 – 3,461
            Civilians reported killed: 475 – 891
            Children reported killed: 176
            Total reported injured: 1,267 – 1,431
            Strikes under the Bush Administration: 52
            Strikes under the Obama Administration: 310

    [2] Obama 2012 Pakistan Strikes Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
    [17] Woods, Chris; Lamb, Christina (4 February 2012). "Obama terror drones: CIA tactics in Pakistan include targeting rescuers and funerals". Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Retrieved 7 February 2012.