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You Know the CIA’s Secret Drone Base in Saudi Arabia? Looks Like These Satellite Pics Just Outed It

Feb. 8, 2013 9:41am Liz Klimas

A drone base in Saudi Arabia from which the CIA conducts lethal drone strikes against al-Qaeda militants inside Yemen has been reported about by the Associated Press in 2011, but it’s location was withheld at the request of officials. On Tuesday, the New York Times disclosed the location of the base, which was used to carry out the mission killing Anwar al-Awlaki in September 2011. Now, satellite images from Bing might revealing specific details about the about the base.

As Wired puts it, the location of the base on the online map service “would be almost impossible to discover randomly.”

Bing Satellite Images Might Reveal Secret Drone Base in Saudi Arabia

Zoomed further out in Bing, this is what the area looks like. (Image: Bing)

Zooming in a click closer, this is revealed. (Image: Bing)

Here are details Wired has picked up about the base from the images:

The images show a trio of “clamshell”-style hangars, surrounded by fencing. Each is more than 150 feet long and approximately 75 feet wide; that’s sufficient to hold U.S. Predator and Reaper drones. The hangars are slightly larger, though similar in shape, to ones housing unmanned planes at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Shamsi Air Field in Pakistan, which once held U.S. drones, boasts a group of three hangars not unlike the ones of the Saudi base. No remotely piloted aircraft are visible in the images. But a pair of former American intelligence officers tell Danger Room that they are reasonably sure that this is the base revealed by the media earlier this week.

[...]

Three airstrips are visible in the pictures; two are big enough to land drones or conventional light aircraft. A third runway, under construction, is substantially longer and wider. In other words: The facility is growing, and it is expanding to fly much larger planes.

(Image: Bing)

Wired reported an unnamed former officer saying the remote location in Rub al Khali, which he said is “otherwise known as Hell,” makes the base a major logistical feat. National Geographic has called the area the “Empty Quarter,” which is both the most and least hospitable place on Earth that has as much sand as half of that in the entire Sahara desert.

“The way it fits inconspicuously into the terrain is also admirable,” the former officer said to Wired.

(Image: Bing)

Any operation by U.S. military or intelligence officials inside Saudi Arabia is politically and religiously sensitive. Al-Qaeda and other militant groups have used the Gulf kingdom’s close working relationship with U.S. counterterrorism officials to stir internal dissent against the Saudi regime.

See the Bing map of what is thought to be the base here. Wired noted that Google’s satellite images do not pick up any details of the base.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Comments (56)

M24
Posted on February 9, 2013 at 6:59am
Wouldn’t You Like To see The Reporter That Got These Photo’s In full gear ON POINT???

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- G-WHIZ
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 9:59am
  Just annother MANDATED LEAK BY OUR W.H.!!
  
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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 9:01pm
If enough private property owners start suing the companies that publish the pictures of their property to the public without permission, maybe this nonsense will stop?

Just because you have a bird in the sky does not give you the right to publish photos that amount to search (look) without a warrant? By providing these photos to the public, you have by default become an agent of the state, violating the civil rights of citizens?

By the time your lawyers get done trying to figure out what you can and can not publish if you ethically followed the law, these photographs would be too expensive to buy, and would remain the property of the military agencies?

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- Xylliab_of_the_Znarghh
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 2:16am
  Looking at the outside of your house is not searching. Since private property owners in this country cannot claim control of airspace, whatever can be seen from above is considered to be in plain sight just as if it were in plain sight of somebody driving down the street.
  
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Norm D. Plume
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 5:09pm
Drone base outed? Good.

Get rid of them. Bring our troops home.

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thegreatcarnac
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 3:07pm
All of that work to place the base just right, camouflage it just perfect….and now outed to the world. Curse you…..satellite!

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Gargent_Furball
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:43pm
Pack all the USA Citizens in there, ya know, the ones Obamamama wants to kill by Drone,

Then it only take one missal.

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- Todd P
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 4:21pm
  “Missal” is a Catholic Church bulletin. “Missile” is the pointy thing that goes boom.
  
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Gebo
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:02pm
People this is not a drone base at all. This is where we send the people who get radical to start their trip across the empty quarter without any drinking water. If they make it over to the UAE they get to live, otherwise they just get buried in the shifting sand.

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spfoam1
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:35pm
Everyone of significance has satellites, so it was only a secret to the public. The Iranians and others in the region know the Saudis are providing support and intelligence to the US. The Saudis will be a target of Iran, to damage the economies of the west, when the shooting starts.

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- rose-ellen
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:00pm
  Contrary to the fox fed narrative -how the 19hijackers were mostly saudi’s and bin laden was a saudi therefore saudi arabia is pulling the strings of alquada- the saudi royal family -the regime of saudi arabia is and has always been america’s best friend in the region.That’s half our problem-we support atrocious regimes and alquada and bin laden were as much a reaction to these tyranical regimes as anything[osama supported the uprisings against dictators throughout the region].He was not a fundamentalist.[though today fundamentalists like in mali and any insurrgen group–will appropriate the alqada flag-just to antagonize the west.
  
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- spfoam1
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:33pm
  @ROSE-ELLEN The oil from Saudi Arabia is important to the stability of global economics. We support the free flow of oil, as that is beneficial to many nations. Right now the free flow of oil from there is very important, but it will not be forever. They are supporting us, because failure to do so would have dire consequences. By supporting us they become the enemy of al qaeda. By supporting us the radicals within Saudi Arabia are as much a threat to them as to us. Tell me who in the area is not atrociaous? Do you support Iran? Do you support islamic jhad? Don’t even try to hand me the bullcrap that islam only attacks us because we are over there or we support someone over there. You are either an idiot, very misinformed, or a muslim propagandist. The Saudis are playing both sides, trying to stay in power no matter what happens, but they have several really big problems that are coming to a head soon.
  
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dkeith2
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:13pm
The reason this would be ‘outed’ – presumably with administration approval (since no one is being prosecuted for it) may be because the ‘man’ doesn’t like the kingdom anymore; they sell us oil at reasonable prices, cooperate with us on the war on terror(?), and don’t support the ‘arab spring’…

Just thinkin’…

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- Nepenthe
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:57pm
  No one would be prosecuted because there was no crime committed by the NYT.
  
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- Nepenthe
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:01pm
  No person who believes in concepts of Justice and freedom should in any way defend Saudi Arabia for any action they perform. The regime there is among the wrost of the human rights abusers on the planet. People should be appaled everytime a member of the Saudi Royalty is mentioned in the news.
  
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- rose-ellen
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 3:08pm
  They attacked us because of our policies-such as supporting the saudi royals who torture and kill all dissidents,.And because we have military bases in their holy land and because of our one sided zionist support and the first gulf war and sanctions on iraq which led to the suffering and deaths of civilians. And our propping up other brutal dictators-like in egypt,yemen and elsewhere. So yes-it was for polictical meddling in their homelands which adversely affected the people there who identify primarily as muslims. Hence it’s called jihad[a war of defense from unjust meddlers which harmed the people]. If you believe might makes right-we have a RIGHT to their oil-then you’re tyranical and osama correctly identified america as such. And that makes them freedom fighters. We propped up saudi arabia’s regime to get below market prices .Hence we could have huge gas guzzlers but the europeans and russians could not afford them.Osama should have been a natural ally for people who believe in universal human rights and freedom.He was not a fundamentalist[he supported arab uprisings against dictators and oppossed the iraqi insurgents who tortured and beheaded people].But because as you just admitted-we wanted cheap OIL -we supported evil regimes. Al quada was formed[and prior the muslim brotherhood] because of these unjust colonial and post col regimes and the support of greedy american and western interests who show their hypocrsy in allowing millions of muslims to suffer under th
  
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SidneyDave
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:18am
We taxpayers spend billions of dollars to build secrete facilities like the underground capital in Pennsylvania, and military based world wide only to have some news report come out and disclose the locations. It seems that the media has no concern for the safety and welfare of America and it’s people. Not to long ago these leaks would have been prosecuted and punished, today they win awards.

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- redfish52
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:27am
  Question: Now that more and more police departments are now using the small remote controlled drones to snoop and you by chance see one flying over your property and you just by chance happen to have a 12 gauge pump shotgun with double 00 buckshot and then just by chance are able to shoot it down and bury it deep hole on your property….what can happen to you?
  
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- decendentof56
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:55am
  Redfish…..
  That’s a good question. If I ever shoot one down, I’ll bury it in my next door neighbors yard to find out. They have loud-mouth dogs, and I’d like to get rid of them…..the neighbors, that is! Then, I can take care of the dogs myself.
  
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Zombee
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:03am
GOOGLE and Bing have violated all Americans privacy. Google has been deeply involved with the Obama regime from a campaign donor standpoint and has a cozy relationship with the government that keeps it flush with taxpayer dollars.

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- armyofnibiru
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:07pm
  wow can no longer see antarctica,but we can see this.the fed has no constituional authority to keep secrets from the people,but they do.because the founders were afraid the govt would secretly target citizens for execution without due prosses.sound familiar drone king.
  
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GoodCook
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:40am
Not much of secret anymore now is it!

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- armyofnibiru
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:11pm
  do you believe for one second that our enemys did not know this.the US citizen is the only peoples kept in the dark by the msm and govt.
  
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DZ-015
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:34am
Those are not clam shell doors. The third hangar is unfinished. Note the shadows of the sliding door frames in place on the other two hangars. The third has no door frame, and the missing segment on the round end of the third hangar means that it either has not been put in place, or was put there and found to be slightly too big or too small, so as to require a spacer or a shaving down in order to fit properly. This was very much a work in progress at the time the photo was taken.

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AbrahamsSheepdog
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:32am
Stimulus dollars at work. Who needs money, we have a press. Welcome Boys. It’s Hitting the Fan.

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Gonzo
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:32am
If the NYT knows about it, the Russians know about it. If the Russians know about it, all of our Islamist enemies know about it. If the Islamists know about it, the Chinese know about it. If the Chinese know about it, North Korea knows about it. I wouldn’t call it a “secret” facility anymore.

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- JRook
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:42am
  What secret Saudi Arabia is made up of Suni’s. Just take a few minutes to study which countries we are pressuring and gotten into military conflicts with. You will note a rather distinct, pro Suni position on the part of the US. Now let’s go back to the close ties Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. had with Bin Laden’s family and the Saudi government. Like it is tough to figure out why we would have a base there.
  
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- barber2
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:44am
  Hope the NYT receives the reward they have so richly deserved for many years .
  
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- barber2
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:50am
  JR: Always great to hear from the Far Left Blame Bush Crowd….getting pretty old.
  
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- Gonzo
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 11:04am
  It has more to do with where we get our oil than which branch of Islam we support and it started long before Bush came to power.
  
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barber2
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:18am
If the Obama Administration wants the info released ( i.e., leaked ) , it will be. Just read the New York Times’ front page for details. They are a team.

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- RANGER1965
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:34am
  This will put pressure on the Saudi’s to distance themselves from the United States. This put’s Iran in a good spot politically. From the perspective of Al Queda, drones represent are most feared asset.
  
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- armyofnibiru
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:19pm
  drones bombing people in the middle of the night on people in countrys outside the conflict area,is a form of terrorism.heard a low flying copter fly over the house,went out to see a military copter escorted by three drones.wounder what citizen was targeted by them.
  
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- revelation2012
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:48pm
  As we begin to remove the layers of obfuscation, we can see that Obama is actually doing the “heavy lifting” for Saudi Arabia and the advancement of the Muslim Brotherhood agenda. For anyone doubting this assertion, simply follow the money. Where did the money originate for the boat shipments of arms? At its most basic level, who filled the gas tanks?
  
  More visible is the able assistance to this operation provided by Turkey. Somewhat of a fair weather friend, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan looked the other way as weapons were being secreted into staging areas in Turkey near the Syrian border, for their ultimate transfer to the rebels in Syria.
  
  Turkey was not the only country used for this operation. Jordan and Lebanon also received their fair share of arms, where Muslim Brotherhood backed rebels were (and continue to be) materially supported by the CIA under Obama’s orders.
  
  http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50824
  
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RANGER1965
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:13am
This type of public information puts alot of pressure on the Saudi’s. They are not going to like that this has been made public.

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- barber2
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:22am
  When the Obama Administration is through with America, we will be without a single ally .
  
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13th Imam
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:08am
Many times the MSM knows and releases info , as the powers that be, leak to be released.

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nojoke
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:08am
Looks like they are still building it,you can see the cement forms for the runway and the cement plant down the road.

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AbrahamsSheepdog
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:07am
We need US drones. Maybe we do Hell they see Ufo’s. Probably have a crapload of em. Something not good about this. This world is just a rockin an a rollin.

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kevin542
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:06am
traitors

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Kris
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:03am
I am pretty sure this is not a “drone base” or any other kind of air base. First, look at the runway. Zoom in and you can see that this is not a reasonable runway, even for a desert. Second, look at the positioning of the hangers. The clam shell doors open to the Northwest, whereas the “runway” is to the south. Also, there is no reasonable taxi-way for the aircraft to access the runway from the hanger bay doors. This observation only adds to the mystery, but I feel pretty certain about this. Drones are very large aircraft and need reasonable taxi clearance to move about.

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- Kris
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:12am
  On second thought, and after closer inspection, the clam-shell ends of the hangars facing northwest are quite possibly the rear end of the hangar, with larger sliding doors facing south and the “runway”. An explanation as to the condition of the runway is made easier when you examine the site and realize that this is very likely an active construction area. The shipping containers are likely material storage and expat housing. The only thing that this new theory brings to question is why is there such a lack of activity? If this theory is true, the hangars were never completed as observed by one of them missing a rear panel. Wouldn’t you expect to see more than a couple vehicles and semi-trucks? Wouldn’t you expect to see a more suiting infrastructure for such a large project?
  
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gyro
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 9:55am
Snowleopard = In ww2 the british shot traitors for giving out information like this
So ?

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nonofmybiznez
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 9:53am
I’m tired of media outlets or technology sites telling the enemy where to find us and what we are up to. We do not need to know. It endangers our troops (brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters).

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- TheIggies
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 1:47pm
  We have a right to know. Secrets hurt people. That’s why Wikileaks is a blessing. No. More. Secrets.
  
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- Eastinfection
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 3:02pm
  “Secrets hurt people. That’s why Wikileaks is a blessing. No. More. Secrets.”
  
  ……. says the anonymous blogger with the secret identity. lol.
  
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 9:48am
New York Times released the pictures of a secret drone base in Saudi Arabia in which our troops operate from?

Okay as of now I want to know what flea-brained moron authorized this to be done. If any newspaper can excuse the showing of such a base, how long does it take someone with a working brain cell to see that the terrorists can use the same information to locate the base and prepare to mount an attack upon it?

Has this intel been leaked deliberately by Obama to stage another ‘event’ in the region?

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- gyro
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 9:53am
  yes
  
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- huey6367
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 9:57am
  They will hidee behind the Freedom of Information Act and/or the First Amendment.
  
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soybomb315_II
Posted on February 8, 2013 at 9:44am
busted!

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- skippy6
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 9:52am
  Great… Now where is the base in the United states located????
  
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- momrules
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:02am
  Skippy6………..http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/06/64-drone-bases-on-us-soil/
  
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- barber2
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 10:21am
  Interesting power of the Left : they have hacked Bush’s personal info BUT still, we haven’t seen Obama’s hidden school records….
  
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- AUsername
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:37pm
  Good i don’t think neo conservatives would have an issue if Iran got some payback on Saudi Arabia would they?
  
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- rose-ellen
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 2:23pm
  The NYT is pro zionist-they may be liberal about everything else under the sun but when it comes to zionism they defend right wing israeli policy everytime. They have no problem fanning the flames of war against any and every muslim country in the area.The neo cons in government hate the sunnis;syria is in fact sunni-yet the media lies and says they’re shia.Over 60000syrians have been killed there for oppossing a stalinist like secular government. Yet still we do nothing to stop this holocaust. In iraq we installed a shia government to likewise annihilate the sunnis out of revenge for saddam’s regime.I saw an interview on cnn a few years ago where an american reporter asks a young iraqi if he was sunni or shia. He looked embarrassed and said that it’s bad manners to ask ssomeone what rect they are as they’re all iraqi!This was instilled by the regime prior to our invasion which pitted the sects against each other deliberatly to incite shia retaliation and vengence against sunnis after saddamThe neo cons want to annhiliate the muslims and sunnis arabs.As they take up land that these neocons would like to see israel get.Hence their policies.The saudi regime does our bidding but the neocons in government and media want to see us go to war against them too.They lie and say that alquada is afiliated with the saaudi regime when in fact they were enemies.Osama was not a fundamentalist [the royals probably arn’t either though much of the population is.And many of their clerics
  
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