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Operation Lowrider

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posted on Aug, 28 2013 @ 11:09 PM
link   
FNC video
Operation Lowrider news article


Under the direction of the Pentagon's Northern Command, "Operation Lowrider" began in 2011 after the death of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jamie Zapata. Read more: www.foxnews.com...



The operation is not without risk. Two U.S. surveillance planes crashed on similar missions in Colombia 10 years ago. Guerillas killed a U.S. pilot and held three Americans captive for six years. That $8.6 million operation was also undertaken by a defense contractor, Northrup-Grumman. Read more: www.foxnews.com...


The Northrup Grumman operation was Plan Columbia, run by the (cough cough) Department of State rather than Northcom. Those planes were seen at Base Camp.
Plan Columbia at Base Camp

If it is a Beech 300 (as shown in the video), that would be
N81350
N8052Z
N80243
N63909


edit on 28-8-2013 by gariac because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 29 2013 @ 03:14 AM
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Here is the link to the "vocative" article:
Vocative on Operation Lowrider


The operation was initially code-named Lowrider, but officially known as the Northern Command Aerial Sensor Platform. And like so many military enterprises since 9/11, the contract was privatized: Without a bidding process, the government farmed it out to a large private defense company, Sierra Nevada Corporation, to provide the planes, pilots and crews for the classified missions.


It gets even better. The program is using sensor technology from "Big Safari":

The secret nature of the Lowrider program makes its rough outlines difficult to trace. But one document obtained by Vocativ indicates that it began with a 2011 directive from the Pentagon’s Northern Command to the 645th Aeronautical Systems Group—a secretive U.S. Air Force office also known as Big Safari. That summer, Big Safari awarded an $18 million contract to Sierra Nevada Corporation for the Northern Command Aerial Sensor Platform. The company would provide the planes, integrated with the intelligence-gathering equipment, and the crews.


"Big Safari" is based out of Palmdale.
Big Safari

The program never went for bid on the fbo.gov website, which everyone monitors. Well at least I do. That is how it escaped detection.


Last year Republican Congressman Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania wrote to the Pentagon raising concerns about the military’s decision to award the contract to Sierra Nevada without putting it out for competitive bidding, as the law usually requires. Shuster didn’t specifically mention Mexico or refer to the Lowrider program by name, but his letter, obtained by Vocativ, alludes to an aircraft “currently operating in North America providing aerial surveillance and signals intelligence collection in support of Northern Command.”


I never heard of Vocativ, but they do damn good research.



posted on Aug, 29 2013 @ 06:21 PM
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It turns out Sierra Nevada fronts some aircraft under the name "Airborne Services Global LLC" out of Sparks, Nevada. An example is N333WC. Here it is with a radome under the belly:
N333WC #1
Another view of the pod:
N333WC #2
Here is the same plane with a radome on top:
N333WC #3

N333WC has been to Lackland, but that doesn't mean it is the plane in "Operation Lowrider." But it wouldn't surprise me if this operation is run out of Lackland.
N333WC at Lackland

Here is a FAA search on the company. They only have one Beech.
FAA search



 
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