Defence`s Feeds

Egypt is planning to acquire new mobile surveillance systems to monitor its border with Libya under a US Foreign Military Sales programme worth an estimated USD100 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) revealed on 4 June. The DSCA said the proposed sale would include mobile

Key Points Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held an All Parties Conference on 1 June to form a consensus on security related issues in Balochistan province. Security in Balochistan has become of paramount importance since the announcement of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which runs

EVENT At least 20 soldiers were killed and 12 others wounded in an ambush involving small-arms, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) targeting a military convoy travelling from Motul towards Imphal in Chandel district in India's Manipur state on 4 June. The

Reliance Defence Systems (RDS), a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, has appointed HS Malhi - a retired Indian Navy vice admiral and former chairman of state-owned naval shipbuilder Mazagon Dock - president and CEO, it was announced on 4 June. RDS is currently in the process of acquiring naval

Key Points Amid a growing fracturing of the international consensus on countering illicit drugs, the UN will hold a special session in April 2016 that could herald a new chapter in drug-control policy. Two countries - the United States and Uruguay - are now in technical breach of international

Key Points The killing came a day after Hamas had executed a former member of its al-Qassam Brigade they accused of having joined the Islamic State in Gaza. These incidents took place in a context of increasing hostility between Hamas and Islamic State supporters in Gaza, who are attempting to set

Japan and the Philippines signed a strategic partnership pact on 4 June and agreed to start talks to transfer defence equipment and technology from Tokyo to Manila. Following meetings in Tokyo between Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, and Philippine president Benigno Aquino, a joint declaration

Key Points The first KC-46A test aircraft has completed its first airworthiness flight equipped with a boom and wing pods Boeing is now continuing preparations for the official KC-46A first flight The US Air Force's (USAF's) first Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker engineering and manufacturing

LIG Nex1, a South Korean military systems developer, has applied to the Korean stock exchange (KRX) for approval to launch an initial public offering (IPO), the KRX said in a statement on 4 June. The KRX did not elaborate, but reports in South Korea said the IPO could take place before the end of

The Malaysian government has approved special funding of MYR23 million (USD6.2 million) to expedite the purchase of assets for the Eastern Sabah Security Zone, state news agency Bernama reported on 4 June citing Ali Hamsa, the chief secretary to the government. The funding is being provided in

Russian air defence system manufacturer Almaz-Antey claims to have evidence Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Boeing 777 downed over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014 with the loss of all 298 on board, was destroyed by a Ukrainian 9M38M1 surface-to-air missile (SAM) fired from a Buk-M1 (SA-11) system

AN ALLEGED would-be suicide bomber was detained by National Directorate of Security (NDS) intelligence personnel during a counter-terrorism operation in the Kara Taz area of Mahmud-i-Raqi in Afghanistan's Kapisa province on 11 May, Khaama Press reported. A suicide vest, two AK-series assault rifles,

Key Points The first of five Global Hawk UAVs being bought by NATO was rolled out on 4 June The ISR UAVs should begin operating out of Sicily on behalf of the alliance in 2017 Northrop Grumman rolled out NATO's first RQ-4B Block 40 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for the Allied Ground

At least 20 soldiers were killed and 12 others wounded in an ambush involving small-arms, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) targeting a military convoy travelling from Motul towards Imphal in Chandel district in India's Manipur state on 4 June. The attack was

TWO unidentified suspects - accused of distributing Islamic State propaganda - were detained by police during a counter-terrorism operation in the city of Barcelona in Spain's Catalonia region on 12 May, Reuters reported. The suspects were alleged to have distributed official and homemade Islamic

The 43rd edition of the multinational maritime exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2015 has started in the Baltic Sea, involving seventeen Nato and partner nations.

Babcock has completed a refit of the UK Royal Navy's ocean survey vessel, HMS Scott, under the HMS Scott through life support (TLS) contract.

General Dynamics' (GD) subsidiary Electric Boat has received a $6.5m contract from the US Navy to develop the Virginia Payload Module (VPM).

The long range anti-ship missile (LRASM) for the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has completed store separation testing in the 16F transonic wind tunnel (16T) at the Arnold engineering development complex (AEDC) in Tennessee.

A comment on a social media can attract three JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munitions).

It looks like the imprudent use of social media cost ISIS an air strike and three JDAMs dropped by U.S. attack planes on one of their buildings.

According to Air Force Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, airmen belonging to the 361st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, at Hurlburt Field, Florida, were able to geo-locate an ISIS headquarters building thanks to a comment posted on social media by a militant.

As Carlisle explained to Defense Tech:

“The guys that were working down out of Hurlburt, they’re combing through social media and they see some moron standing at this command. And in some social media, open forum, bragging about the command and control capabilities for Daesh, ISIL. And these guys go: ‘We got an in.’ So they do some work, long story short, about 22 hours later through that very building, three [Joint Direct Attack Munitions] take that entire building out.”

Although the U.S. Air Force did not release any further information about the location of the headquarters or the aircraft that carried out the attack, the story is quite interesting as it proves that not only are social media used by ISIS for propaganda and recruiting purposes, they are also used by U.S. intel team to identify ground targets, supplementing ISR (Intelligence Surveillance Reconnaissance) activities conducted with the “usual” platforms, like satellites, spyplanes and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles).

U.S. and NATO soldiers are always made aware of the risk of using social media and, generally speaking, digital technologies which embed information that can be exploited by the adversaries in various ways. Still OPSEC (Operations Security) breaches occur.

In 2007 four Apache helicopters were lost in Iraq because of smartphone geotagging: insurgents were able to determine the exact location of the AH-64s and successfully attack them because some soldiers had taken pictures on the flightline and uploaded them (including geotagging data) to the Internet.

Now even IS militants have experienced how dangerous an incautious use of social media can be.

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

 

Related articles

• [Photo] U.S. F-22 Raptors refuel from KC-135 over the Persian Gulf
• U.S. drone crashed in Syria. Probably shot down by a Syrian SA-3 surface to air missile
• U.S. Air Force disclosed some details about gigantic Global Hawk unmanned aircraft operations against ISIS
• New Photos of the F-117 Black Jet flying over Tonopah Test Range in 2014
• Russia launches surprise war games in the Baltics alongside NATO drills
• Photo from the cockpit: B-52 bomber drops a live stealthy Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile
• U.S. airborne communication plane could be tracked on the Web for 9 hours during air strike that killed Taliban leaders in Afghanistan