Fixes on the way for nonsecure UAV links

[unhappycamper]

An MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle prepares to land at Balad Air Base, Iraq.


Fixes on the way for nonsecure UAV links
By Michael Hoffman, John Reed and Joe Gould - Staff writers
Posted : Friday Dec 18, 2009 12:42:31 EST

The Air Force has known for more than a decade that the live video feeds from its unmanned aerial vehicles can be intercepted by the enemy but opted not to do anything about it until this year. An official document puts a completion date to secure the feeds at 2014.

Defense officials confirmed Thursday that Iraqi insurgents have been capturing the nonsecure, line-of-sight signals used by troops on the ground to view video feeds from MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers since mid-2008.

The drones, built by General Atomics, also have two secure datalinks; one for the pilot controls and one to feed video to commanders.

The service has identified how to protect the feeds, according to an Air Force officer who asked not to be identified. The officer said the service is starting to encrypt the feeds with a software modification but refused to discuss when the fix will be completed. The Air Force’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan puts the completion date at 2014.

“In today’s information age, we realize these are not encrypted datalinks, but we have taken steps to rapidly upgrade our current and future fleet to protect those datalinks,” the official said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/airforce_uav_hack_121809w/