FBI AERIAL SURVEILLANCE (SPY PLANES) ~/wiki
FBI (aircraft via front companies: NG Research, KQM Aviation, PXW Services, National Aircraft Leasing Corp.)
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Category: Aerial Surveillance
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Description
The FBI operates a fleet of low-flying manned aircraft — mostly Cessna
propeller planes and Citation jets — for persistent overhead
surveillance. Registered to shell companies to hide FBI ownership, they
can circle a site for hours carrying high-resolution and infrared
cameras. Their existence became public after 2015 Baltimore protests,
and the fleet has been documented over Black Lives Matter
demonstrations.
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Capabilities
FLIR Talon multi-sensor and Paravion infrared camera systems; persistent
orbit over a fixed point (a Citation jet flew a ~7-mile circle over
central DC during June 2020 protests); the AP/BuzzFeed reporting
documented a nationwide fleet of 100+ aircraft. One program surveilled a
single subject for 24 days.
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Known Deployments
Nationwide (AP/BuzzFeed, 2015-2016); Baltimore 2015 (Freddie Gray
protests, 18+ hrs of footage released via ACLU FOIA); Washington DC and
other cities during 2020 BLM protests.
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Countermeasures
Assume overhead observation at outdoor gatherings; aerial IR sees
through darkness but not solid overhead cover; flight-tracking sites
(ADS-B) sometimes expose orbiting aircraft and their registrations.
Source: AP & BuzzFeed News (Peter Aldhous, 2015-2016 "Spies in the
Skies"); ACLU FOIA disclosures (Baltimore). Corroborates LFM Vol IV,
"Command, Control, and Suppression in Modern Civil Unrest."
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