FLIR camera at work

[ElektroQuark]

https://t.co/7y4mTryb7d

[Fraser]

No idea how this stuff gets into the public domain but maybe now people will understand my comments in thermal imaging threads regarding why such technology is both very powerful and heavily controlled. I know that there are people who thought the ITAR regulations daft..... but consider being in the position of the 'targets' in that video. You have little chance of evading the FLIR and the fast update permits multiple target aquisition and elimination. FLIR is part of a very powerful attack capability. The FLIR PM series have been a common series deployed on aerial platforms and are protected inside a stabilised gimbal mount and weather dome. 60fps provides a definite advantage over 9fps in tactical  situations with fast pan and tilt heads as demonstrated in this video.

Be aware that 'FLIR' in the video is just the ID for the 'Forward looking Infra Red' camera and not the FLIR company logo ! FLIR was a military term well before the FLIR company came into being.

I would not wish our enemies to have a such a capability made easily available to them in significant numbers.

Some may have found the OP's video link upsetting or distasteful. Whilst I respect such views I know the difficulties in engaging an enemy in rough terrain and in poor visibility. Anything that aids our soldiers in eliminating an identified hostile is fair warcraft in my opinion. It is worrying how easily an innocent could be mistaken for a hostile however. The effectiveness of th 30mm cannon was eye watering and collateral damage must be a concern for the gunner. It was interesting to hear the gunner identify the targets payload and then request permission to act. Hopefully friendly fire incidents are kept to an absolute minimum these days.

Modern warfare....... more like a modern video game ? or is it vice versa ?

Still surprised that these gun camera recordings are getting into the public domain though. A little worrying in some ways as they should be on classified IT platforms.

Aurora

[ElektroQuark]

I deliverately didn't comment on the content, and I would not do it now. But it's interested in the EE point of view, so there it is.
About how it shows what we are... it's another history.

I'm glad you "enjoyed" it. I was waiting for your comments.

[Fraser]

Quite agree, the rights and wrongs of killing people is very much for other forums and not here. The effectiveness of the FLIR system was impressive though. The detachment of the gunner from the actual 'act' is very different to that of the First World War when hand to hand combat was not uncommon.

For the record, I believe that having to kill someone because of the failure of negotiations and a decline into war is a very sad event and reflection on humanity, or the lack there-of. Like yourself, I was interested in seeing the technology in action, but I would not be the one to cheer when a target was eliminated. I am, however, not a pacifist.

Aurora

[SeanB]

Much easier to press a button and have the action occur at a distance than to do it up close and personal. If you are flying overhead, and you just aim and select a white glowing target on a screen, and designate it as a fire and forget target it is a much less guilty idea than to be on the ground, put a bayonet on the end of a rifle and rip his guts out and leave him to bleed out screaming. A world of difference, and one guaranteed to lead you into the lovely schism of PTSD in time.

BTW I really enjoyed Full Metal Jacket, it was quite cathartic.

[franksanderdo]

Hey Ho

It is frightening to see this video material open available.
I am suffering every day by export restrictions, most of the time in my job were we struggle to get spare parts, right now even private buying a oscilloscope. Watching this video reminds me why export restriction have been raised.

Please don't feel offense  when I ask:
Do we need videos like this to learn about possibilities a technology is offering?

All the Best
Frank

[firewalker]

I don't believe that the uploader of the video had technology in mind.

Alexander.

[Fraser]

My Great Grandfather was Capt William Ivor Castle.

Ivor was an official war photographer in the First World War. He worked for Britain's Daily Mirror but suffered too much official Sensorship and Propoganda interference so he moved to the Canadian Expeditionary Force in August 1916, where he was able to report the true situation in the trenches.

http://ww1photos.mirror.co.uk/

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2014/november/05/141105-battlefield-tour

http://thediscoverblog.com/2014/11/07/photography-of-the-first-world-war-part-i-the-canadian-war-records-office/

http://canadianmilitaryhistory.ca/photography-on-the-front-lines-part-2-canadas-official-photography-of-the-first-world-war-by-carla-jean-stokes/

http://archive.iwm.org.uk/upload/package/95/collections/photographs/1914-1919.html

Ivor's work was celebrated at this years Imperial War Museum WWI remembrance event. Many of his pictures are still stored and on display there.In the second picture, below, Ivor is the officer on the far right with his back to us and a camera in hand.

Why did I tell you all this ? My father still has many of Ivor's original photographs. My Grandmother wanted to destroy them as they are simply too graphic and contents too ghastly for many to view. Seeing such raw and honest photography truly grounds one when discussing War and what it involved in WWI and possibly WWII.

Ivor was awarded the MBE but declined to accept it as that was not what he was about.

I wonder what he would think of the world today with all its troubles and horrors ?

I know he would not be surprised at the situation in Afghanistan. It has often been considered unconquerable due to the terrain.

Aurora

[Rufus]

For the record, I believe that having to kill someone because of the failure of negotiations and a decline into war is a very sad event and reflection on humanity, or the lack there-of.

A huge technological imbalance which makes killing someone about as difficult and dangerous as shooting fish in a barrel tends to devalue negotiation. If the ragheads had fleets of Apaches with FLIR cameras I bet there would be more talking and less killing all round.

[electr_peter]

Gruesome video showing war from attacker/soldier point of view. Still, not the forum and topic topic to discuss very questionable military action.

Stepping aside from actual video a bit, it shows a general pattern of military action in recent times: engage in direct contact only and only if massive power (equipment/technology/soldier count/intelligence/etc.) is on your side. Thermo vision technology and associated restrictions are used to keep one side more technologically advanced so that both sides could not have equal or semi-equal power.