常规战争中,敌对双方常常捉“舌头”(即俘虏对方人员)来了解对方战术意图、兵力部署及武器装备等情报。随着航天技术的发展,人们采用更先进的方式,即利用人造地球卫星窃取常规手段难以获得的敌方情报。1984年4月17日,在伦敦发生了利比亚驻伦敦办事处用轻机枪扫射游行队伍的事件。这个事件的发生是有先兆的。据美国ABC电视台透露,事件发生前,利比亚政府曾指示利比亚驻伦敦办事处: In conventional warfare, both hostile parties often catch “Tongue” (that is, prisoners’ counterparts) to understand each other’s tactical intentions, deployment of troops and weapons and equipment. With the development of aerospace technology, people adopt a more advanced way of using artificial Earth satellites to steal enemy intelligence that is difficult to obtain by conventional means. On April 17, 1984, an incident took place in London with a light machine gun fire on the parade by the Libyan office in London. The occurrence of this incident is a warning. According to the ABC television station in the United States, before the incident, the Libyan government instructed the Libyan office in London: