You have two days left to download the NGA FLIP publications. NGA publications will no longer be available to hobby listeners after 1 October 2007, see below.
These useful pubs will be gone from the public domain forever after this date. According to an official spokesman in the NGA that I interviewed, you can thank the Aussie military among other countries who complained their copyrights were being violated by this information being in US DoD pubs and being public. What jerks and guess what milpubs I won't buy and where I won't being going on vacation?
But according to a back channel contact that I have there is a bit more to this story than just copyright concerns. This information is also being removed as a result of some Cold War warriors in DoD and DHS. They convinced their bosses that this public informaion was aiding the enemy monitor everything DoD and was helping them plan attacks. As you can see it this information has really helped the enemy since 9/11.
Yet where our brave servicemen and women are fighting and dying, DoD makes information on all the Iraqi theater freqs, callsigns, services for all bases publicly available on the internet for all to view, including the insurgents and Al Qaida. So much for military intelligence. I won't make that URL available here. Let's see if the CWWs in DoD can figure out they are openingly helping the enemy in Iraq with intel on the internet.
Here is the official story.
REMOVAL OF FLIP DATA
Effective 1 October 2007, NGA's Aeronautical Information will not be available via WWW.
Access to the Aeronautical data via the BLIND URL link will be discontinued. FLIP and DAFIF TM will only be accessible through the NGA Aeronautical Classified and Unclassified Web sites. The NGA NIPRNet site (Unclassified), in accordance with a number of DoD Directives, is Public Key Enabled (PKE); meaning that the site is encrypted using the DoD Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). Users requiring access to the NIPRNet can register at https://www.extranet.nga.mil. A valid Common Access Card (CAC) and pin are required. Fill out and submit the request form. You will be notified by email when you have been granted access.
If you were previously up to date on the downloads of these pubs, then the new pubs as of 28 Sep are the US VFR Sup at https://164.214.2.62/products/usfif/enroutezip.cfm and the FIH and GP at https://164.214.2.62/products/usfif/planzip.cfm.
Other material is located at PAA Charts:
https://164.214.2.62/products/usfif/terminals/enroutelist.cfm?charttype=enroutechartscur&country=Pacific_Australasia_Antarctica
AP1B Charts at:
https://164.214.2.62/products/usfif/terminals/enroutelist.cfm?charttype=ap1b_charts&country=United%20States
So this is it folks. Monday morning (0001Z 01 Oct 2007) those who pressed for the removal of these pubs will have their wish and public domain information on DoD and FAA frequencies will be history. I am sure there are more than a few smiles in their offices at this point. But I would say this to those who are smiling, "don't get to smug."
