Click for high resolution. Sentinel-2 satellite image analyzed by @OSINT_1
OSINT Crosshairs: Satellite Catches Submarine Photo Op
During NATO's Dynamic Manta exercise in the Mediterranean last month a German Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft conducted an anti-submarine exercise with an Italian Navy Type-212A Todaro Class submarine. The photographs and video of the submerged submarine, taken from the Orion, are incredible. But the Marineflieger were not the only ones taking images of the submarine.
In a rare moment of a satellite overpass lining up with a military photo op, a commercial satellite appears to have captured the moment.
Note that the top of the sail is just above the water.
Eagle-eyed OSINT analysist @OSINT_1 (Twitter) found the event in Sentinel-2 imagery.
Click for high resolution. Sentinel-2 satellite image analyzed by @OSINT_1
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Aircraft show as three blobs, one red, one green and one blue, because the satellite image is actually a composite. The satellite takes a sequence of three images in different color spectrums. So the satellite is in a slightly different position for each image. But with advanced 3d calculations (it's rocket science), they are combined into a single image. For non-moving objects on the land surface is not a problem. But fast moving objects in the sky the overlays are naturally misaligned so we see the three blobs.
We cannot be 100% confident that the satellite image is the exact same overpass, but it is strongly indicative of an aircraft exercising with a submarine. And that is very rare in itself.
German Naval Aviation (Marineflieger) P-3C Orion aircraft.
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