Homing Devivces for Civilian Contractors in the Middle East

[Douva 0]

With all of these civilian contractors being kidnapped and executed in the Middle East, I wonder if any of the major employers of civilian contractors over there have considered or are considering hidden GPS trackable homing devices for their employers. If I were working over there, I'd certainly be in favor of something like that. Lowjacked cars often lead police to chop shops; a lowjacked hostage might lead military officials to terrorist groups. I seem to recall some small homing devices being developed for children to be worn in case of kidnapping. I'm sure something like that would work.

--Douva

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[PhillyKev 0]

Damn...that's a good idea. Hell, maybe have some military volunteers pose as contractors with tracking devices as bait so we can find those doing the kidnapping.

[outrager 6]

And you stick them exactly where ? They won't get a good signal in the most obvious spot

bsbd!

Yuri.

[Douva 0]

The trick would be keeping the media from finding out about the homing devices--As soon as the media knows, the terrorists know. The military would have to work closely with the American companies to keep the use of these devices under wraps and attribute all rescues to "anonymous tips." Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if something like this is already in the works. I'll just shut up now.

--Douva

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[quade 4]

I'm not too sure that's such a great idea.

First off where could you put it that the terrorists wouldn't find it when searching the vic shortly after his capture?

Also, I can envision a couple of scenarios where the terrorists could use the device against US troops looking for the vic.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Douva 0]

I've been told that GPS can now track a small chip--It no longer has to be a bulky homing device. Does anybody know if this is accurate? A chip could be sewn into clothing or even attached to a molar or something. Again, I don't know if the "chip" thing really works or if the person who told me this was confusing reality with sci-fi.

--Douva

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[lawrocket 3]

I agree here. Baiting the trap...

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[PhillyKev 0]

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The trick would be keeping the media from finding out about the homing devices--As soon as the media knows, the terrorists know.

That wouldn't necessarily be all bad either. If the terrorists think contractors are being tracked, they'll be less likely to target them for kidnapping.

[gmanpilot 0]

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Hell, maybe have some military volunteers pose as contractors with tracking devices as bait so we can find those doing the kidnapping.

Now there's a job with limited upward mobility.

_________________________________________
-There's always free cheese in a mouse trap.

[tunaplanet 0]

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First off where could you put it that the terrorists wouldn't find it when searching the vic shortly after his capture?

You can sew microchips anywhere on the body. Toenails and fingernails work well too.

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Also, I can envision a couple of scenarios where the terrorists could use the device against US troops looking for the vic.

And how exactly could they do this when...

a) They have no idea he has a transmitter
b) Even if they thought he did they wouldn't know where it is


All in all it's a good idea. It's also not an original idea. This has been done in Special Operations.

Forty-two

[bch7773 0]

its not a bad idea, IF the tracking chip is tiny enough to be hidden very well... because if the terrorists find it, it could easily be attached to a dummy next to a few hundred pounds of explosives. when the army comes to rescue the dummy... boom.

MB 3528, RB 1182

[nigel99 619]

GPS is and can be very small - the problem is that GPS is a RECEIVER and not a transmitter and therefore the GPS knows where it is and nobody else does.

Making an effective long range transmitter that is small is is extremely difficult/impractical

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

We use these gismos, in case a paraffin budgie ditches in the sea.

http://www.mcmurdo.co.uk/?Menu=17&Page=/Contents/ListProducts.asp&ID=1029

Not exactly a hidden transmitter, but its not far from one. Of course, once kidnappers know that their victims are likley to be using similar devices, they will look for them, also, this one has to be activated (water immersion) so a different means of alerting would be rescuers would need to be devised, I'd envisage an alarm accept function type of thing.

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson

[nigel99 619]

thanks for the link - nice product. Maybe next time I should use engineering units instead of ambiguous "long distance" terms.

GPS = global coverage, however a 1 mile radius line of sight (this will degrade in built up areas) To work effectively in the situation suggested I believe you would ideally want to uplink to a satelite for national /or regional coverage. I suppose a 1 mile radius could work if you have aircraft doing the searching as you would get some element of enhanced coverage (don't know the figures of improvement though)

Experienced jumper - someone who has made mistakes more often than I have and lived.

[nacmacfeegle 0]

Bear in mind you still have to activate the gismo, before its detected by the abductor, so maybe not immediately useable in this form. And agreed on the LOS issue, these are designed for maritime rescue, in an area where the survivors are likely to pretty close to the aircraft's EPIRB.

But its close to being useful in the other arena.

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He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson