Quote:
Originally Posted by Seahawk
Also, the USN: Tracking a 777 with Aegis is like OldE and I exchanging flashlight beams at three feet
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OK, but I get the Maglight!
A lot of folks have been asking questions along the lines of, "Well someone must have been tracking the plane." and they're right. The flight probably showed up on lots of radars, but you have several factors:
One, this is one of the busiest air corridors in the world.
Two, There has not been a recent air threat in the region, so no one is on high alert
Three, Say you are a ship's captain who is advised by radar you have a large target, no IFF, flying on a course not a threat to you. Do you contact your HQ? No, you file it away as one more weird thing and get on with the thousand other details until a couple of days later some Brass Hat sends out a query.
Then your data, if you have it, goes under a magnifying glass.
Then someone has to recognize that data piece for what it is and add it to the greater picture.
I suspect a lot of that sort of thing has been happening, but no one is going to risk a career by blurting out, "Oh yeah, we had those guys on the screen around 4 AM and they were headed North west." Down the road, some PIO will advise the press.
In the mean while, we wait.
We've been spoiled by the 30 second news clip.
Life sometimes takes longer.
Best
Les