Well found something interesting:
Came across a lone helicopter flying close to the Pak Border:
Went in for a closer look noticed the hovering pattern to be a little sus:
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The light pattern resembled what I had seen of Israeli drones during the Palestine Conflict back in October:
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Then I had a look at the Registration:
N168TB (for previous experience) these are usually Bell Jet helicopters -
So I did a little more digging:
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| | |
| Helicopter Bell 407 Serial 53434 Register N168TB N3959A N837DR used by Jacobs Aviation Service ,Chaparral Air Group ,US Department of Homeland Security DHS. Built 2000. Aircraft history and location | | |
Hmm... 168TB is showing as registered as a Bell Jet Helicopter with the Department for Homeland Security in the US... Did some image searches
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I seriously doubt the US would be flying a helicopter from the DHS along the Pak/India LOC so I did some more investigation:
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So this aircraft takes off from India and patrols some interesting places - China, India, Jammu, and today "Sialkot"...
Now I really was curious: I did a search on the callsign 4X-UMH, turns out there where other 4X callsigns showing up as Bell helicopters behaving in this strange manner, then some more light detective work revealed this image:
View attachment 115590
Turns out our "Bell Helicopter" isn't a helicopter at all, it is a Israeli manufactured Heron Drone - notice on this image from Israel the 4X markings on the fuselage... turns out the Indians have learned the trick from their Israeli friends to spoof the transponder code to make their drones appear as if they are helicopters or civi aircraft.
@Musings