Quote Originally Posted by Mach 5 View Post
Yes but surely they would notice the thing flying overhead, so they would already know that they are being watched, dont get me wrong I know its completely stupid but on the other hand you have to argue that sorting out encryption for every soldier who needs access to the feed would be pretty difficult to maintain and keep secure.

Also if you think back to when these were first deployed, chances are the insurgents didnt have the know-how or the technology to hack into the feed.
Aside from the fact that Predator drones are designed to be hard to detect (or they'd be, I don't know... shot down or avoided? Dur?), the "technological means and know-how" consists of a laptop with a piece of off-the-shelf software, such as SkyGrabber, that is meant to legally retrieve freely aired TV shows, movies, and music via satellite feeds. Such programs cost around $25.00.

The Pentagon knew this problem existed since the Bosnian war in the '90s, but they didn't think the enemy would know how to figure it out.

Now I don't know what stereotypes you and the Pentagon harbor against Iraqis and Afghanis, but it might surprise you to learn that they're actually not all a bunch of stupid sand-niggers.

It also shows just how incompitent, lazy, and stupid our bloated Defense Department can be.