How to use image analysis to determine the route of a military aircraft?

Methods of image analysis to determine the route of a military aircraft will be described. The use of open data sources, such as satellite images and social networks, will allow the tracking of aircraft movements. Geolocation and metadata analysis technologies for accurate location and route determination of military aircraft are considered.

Let’s start

On November 25, 2020, a Twitter user shared the photo below. It depicted a military plane flying over an “unknown location.”

Finding satellite images can be difficult, so additional knowledge is required. The focus is on Google search. At the end of the article there is a list of keywords to search for. Original photo sources are available on the military website.

These sites provide search keys for new information, such as photo tags (tags: OIR Special Report, Central Command, Centcom, Inherent Resolve, AIR FORCE). Exif information of photos is also useful.

Repeated expansion of the search leads to an increase in knowledge. For example, the locations of Operation Inherent Resolve (link-1, link-2, link-3) and the A-10 deployment at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey (link-4, link-5, link-6) have been identified, including the factory number (82-0656) and fighter characteristics (A-10, KS-10).

This was followed by an image search on Google, including photo galleries (ref-7, ref-8) and Twitter. The article from the US Central Command turned out to be the most informative. The photos were found to have been taken over the Atatürk Dam in Turkey, where an A-10 was refueling from a KC-10 during Operation Inherent Resolve on May 31, 2017.

This means that during Operation Inherent Resolve on May 31, 2017, an A-10 deployed to Incirlik Air Force Base was scheduled to rendezvous with a KC-10 over the Atatürk Dam, Turkey, to refuel. Additionally, from the airspace above the Atatürk Dam, given the 800-mile round trip, the A-10 can reach bombing sites in Iraq and Syria.

Comparing the features of photos with Google Earth helps to find the exact location. It is easy to describe, but quite difficult to find in practice.

Answer: 37.663789, 38.091243

Google search keys (&images).

• Operation Inherent Resolve

• Battle Position of Operation Inherent Resolve A-10 KC-10

• Battle Position of Operation Inherent Resolve

• ISIS USA Turkey

• Operation Inherent Resolve turkey

• turkey A-10 Operation Inherent Resolve Incirlik

• Serial A-10C 82–0656 Operation Inherent Resolve Incirlik

• A-10 KS-10 Turkey fuel

• 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron KC-10

• Inherent Resolve Air Force AFCENT OIR KC-10 A-10

Twitter search key

• Michael Battles A-10