Iran claims to have shot down U.S. drone

[News_Editor]

Iran claims to have shot down U.S. drone

2011-12-05 16:11:15 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) -- The Iranian military on Sunday claimed it has shot down a U.S. reconnaissance drone in the country's east near the border with Afghanistan, although U.S. and NATO officials believe it may have crashed by itself.

Iranian state-run media quoted unnamed senior military officials as saying that its electronic warfare unit successfully targeted a U.S.-built RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft after it crossed into Iranian airspace from its border with Afghanistan, although the reports did not say when the incident happened.

In the Afghan capital of Kabul, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said the unmanned aircraft claimed to have been downed by the Iranian military might be a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft which had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan earlier this week. "The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status," an ISAF spokesperson said.

But in the United States, military officials speaking on condition of anonymity said they were skeptical about the reports saying the Iranian military had downed the drone. Instead, U.S. officials believe the drone likely crashed by itself after contact was lost.

The Iranian government said it seized the drone with 'minimal damage.'

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-12-05

[up-country_sinclair]

But in the United States, military officials speaking on condition of anonymity said they were skeptical about the reports saying the Iranian military had downed the drone. Instead, U.S. officials believe the drone likely crashed by itself after contact was lost.

Crashed by itself or shot down is really beside the point. Can you imagine the indignation in the United States if an Iranian spy plane was discovered to be flying over the US? I believe many in the US would consider it an act of war.

[Wallaby]

I suppose the US can't really jump up and down about it because they refuse to acknowledge they use drones. Can't go complaining about something you refuse to admit using.

[Jingthing]

I suppose the US can't really jump up and down about it because they refuse to acknowledge they use drones. Can't go complaining about something you refuse to admit using.

Huh? The drone program is public knowledge.

As far as this incident, it's still unclear what happened. The Iranians have claimed they took electronic control of the drone and that would be embarrassing to the US if they did. IF the Iranians did that, they could have done that starting outside their air space and moved the drone into their airspace. I think at this point the public doesn't know the actual truth, and maybe we never will. As far as an act of war, well not quite exactly the same as a bomb, but it isn't a friendly action either. Keep in mind the US and Iran have had no diplomatic relations for decades now.

[chooka]

But in the United States, military officials speaking on condition of anonymity said they were skeptical about the reports saying the Iranian military had downed the drone. Instead, U.S. officials believe the drone likely crashed by itself after contact was lost.

Crashed by itself or shot down is really beside the point. Can you imagine the indignation in the United States if an Iranian spy plane was discovered to be flying over the US? I believe many in the US would consider it an act of war.

The Americans will never admit it was shot down, that would be an extreemly serious loss of face. It malfunctioned and crashed. Just like Thai police write off suspicious deaths as suicide. Two peas in a pod when it comes to saving face.

[Ulysses G.]

The Americans will never admit it was shot down, that would be an extreemly serious loss of face.

Of course. Just like the US never admitted that they had to leave behind a stealth helicopter when they killed Bin Ladin. It has all been covered up and no one knows about it unless they find the truth on nutty internet web-sites.

Edited December 5, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Jingthing]

But in the United States, military officials speaking on condition of anonymity said they were skeptical about the reports saying the Iranian military had downed the drone. Instead, U.S. officials believe the drone likely crashed by itself after contact was lost.

Crashed by itself or shot down is really beside the point. Can you imagine the indignation in the United States if an Iranian spy plane was discovered to be flying over the US? I believe many in the US would consider it an act of war.

The Americans will never admit it was shot down, that would be an extreemly serious loss of face. It malfunctioned and crashed. Just like Thai police write off suspicious deaths as suicide. Two peas in a pod when it comes to saving face.

Apples and durian.

[craigt3365]

One off topic and troll post removed and member has been warned.

[Wallaby]

I suppose the US can't really jump up and down about it because they refuse to acknowledge they use drones. Can't go complaining about something you refuse to admit using.

Huh? The drone program is public knowledge.

As far as this incident, it's still unclear what happened. The Iranians have claimed they took electronic control of the drone and that would be embarrassing to the US if they did. IF the Iranians did that, they could have done that starting outside their air space and moved the drone into their airspace. I think at this point the public doesn't know the actual truth, and maybe we never will. As far as an act of war, well not quite exactly the same as a bomb, but it isn't a friendly action either. Keep in mind the US and Iran have had no diplomatic relations for decades now.

I was under the impression the US neither admits nor denies the use of drones but am happy to change my mind if you can provide a link that indicates they admit using them.

[Ulysses G.]

The U.S. military released a short statement later Sunday on the missing drone. “The [unmanned aerial vehicle] to which the Iranians are referring may be a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week,” it said. “The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status.”

http://the-american-journal.com/2011/12/officials-admit-drone-lost-iran/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=officials-admit-drone-lost-iran

[craigt3365]

I think this is more to the point. Admission for sure:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/experts-say-irans-possible-capture-of-crashed-stealthy-us-drone-poses-no-serious-risks/2011/12/05/gIQApdBJXO_story.html

WASHINGTON — U.S. military officials said Monday they are concerned that Tehran may have an opportunity to acquire information about the classified surveillance drone program after one of the stealthy aircraft crashed in Iran while patrolling in western Afghanistan.

But experts suggested that even if the Iranians have found parts of the unmanned spy plane, they can probably glean little from it. Because it likely fell from a high altitude, there may be very few large pieces to examine.

U.S. officials have acknowledged that the military lost control of one of the stealthy drones while it was flying a mission over western Afghanistan. Iran’s official IRNA news agency has said that Iran’s armed forces shot it down.

[chuckd]

I suppose the US can't really jump up and down about it because they refuse to acknowledge they use drones. Can't go complaining about something you refuse to admit using.

Huh? The drone program is public knowledge.

As far as this incident, it's still unclear what happened. The Iranians have claimed they took electronic control of the drone and that would be embarrassing to the US if they did. IF the Iranians did that, they could have done that starting outside their air space and moved the drone into their airspace. I think at this point the public doesn't know the actual truth, and maybe we never will. As far as an act of war, well not quite exactly the same as a bomb, but it isn't a friendly action either. Keep in mind the US and Iran have had no diplomatic relations for decades now.

I was under the impression the US neither admits nor denies the use of drones but am happy to change my mind if you can provide a link that indicates they admit using them.

Wallaby:

Will we receive a public admittance of 'change of mind' in light of UG's post?

During the mid-70's, we used to take our cocktails outside around 1730 each afternoon to see the sun glint off the Russian spy plane that flew over Tehran each day at that time. The first one to spot the reflection got a free drink. Now we have satellites do the flyovers.

It has been going on for years but apparently the current regime has just discovered it.

[baboon]

May have been, might have? What a pile of poodle ca-ca. They know exactly what happened, just like with the U2 spy plane over the USSR all those years ago.

[Wallaby]

Wallaby:

Will we receive a public admittance of 'change of mind' in light of UG's post?

During the mid-70's, we used to take our cocktails outside around 1730 each afternoon to see the sun glint off the Russian spy plane that flew over Tehran each day at that time. The first one to spot the reflection got a free drink. Now we have satellites do the flyovers.

It has been going on for years but apparently the current regime has just discovered it.

Of course I will admit to a change of mind. No problem doing that. I wasn't issuing a challenge to prove everyone wrong, I was asking the question. As I said, it was my impression that the offical US policy was neither to admit nor deny they use them, as per this...

In on-the-record interviews, intelligence officials neither admit nor deny even the existence of the CIA drone offensive.

http://www.usnews.co...ed-nations-fire

Admittedly it is over a year old but I didn't know official US policy had changed to actually admit using them.

Off topic I know........I thought it was a bit like what the US does with their warships and submarines re New Zealand. NZ doesn't allow any ships etc with nuclear weapons to land their. So the US thought an easy fix would be to neither confirm nor deny whether the nuclear arms were onboard. But no, as they would not confirm a ship etc did NOT have nuclear arms the NZ govt denies entry to all US ships etc.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Wallaby

[luckizuchinni]

The likelihood that Iran shot down the drone is remote given Iran's capabilities and the drone's admittedly less-than-cutting-edge stealth technology. However, if they are able to spot it and a plane sot it down, so what? We use drones for a reason, and shooting one down is part of the accepted loss calculations.

What is more disturbing is if the Iranians were able to wrest control of the drone from the US, something more within their logical capabilities, and something much more detrimental to US interests.

[flying]

I was under the impression the US neither admits nor denies the use of drones but am happy to change my mind if you can provide a link that indicates they admit using them.

That is true in regards to drones used over Pakistan

There the drone program is 100% run by CIA not US Military.

As such it is neither confirmed nor denied...basically a black op ....although not a very well kept secret. Would be impossible to kill so many without anyone knowing.

[Jingthing]

So the Iranians are milking this. How much do you want to be that's a fake model? Gotta love the skull American flags. Good idea for a t-shirt design? Skulls are hip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-LcuQAnZ4Uw

[Bizz]

Well now they have the photos My link

[Jingthing]

Why believe the photos are real?

[Pedzie]

Why believe the photos are real?

I doubt the photos are real, even if they are the Iranians plan to reverse engineer the drone? I seriously doubt they have the capabilities to do so, more like Iran would get told by Russia to send them the captured drone. Just like what Serbia did when they shot down a US stealth bomber during the Kosovo war, the bomber was shipped to Russia for examination.

Stinks of Iranian propaganda

[Naam]

I doubt the photos are real, even if they are the Iranians plan to reverse engineer the drone? I seriously doubt they have the capabilities to do so...

and neither do they have the capability to build ballistic missiles or nuclear warheads. they just excel in herding sheep and goats as well as growing good quality pistachios and knotting colourful rugs.

the European missile defence system pushed by the Greatest Nation on Earth™ is to prevent the invasion of Iranian shepherds who are looking for jobs as carpenters, electricians and plumbers (mainly in Eastern Europe).

[Ulysses G.]

and neither do they have the capability to build ballistic missiles or nuclear warheads. they just excel in herding sheep and goats as well as growing good quality pistachios and knotting colourful rugs.

Unfortunately, they can hire evil, mercenary scientists from Russia and Pakistan to produce these things for them.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[maidu]

Crashed by itself or shot down is really beside the point. Can you imagine the indignation in the United States if an Iranian spy plane was discovered to be flying over the US? I believe many in the US would consider it an act of war.

Get real. What's a drone in the US going to see from the air. A bunch of suburbs and shopping malls. US military bases aren't that secret. The world knows the US has, by far, the strongest military worldwide. There are military bases in the US where you can drive right by the chain link fences and take photos if you want to. No big deal. The US is an open country, where late night talk show hosts can lambast anybody and anything without a care. It's the opposite of hyper paranoid places like Iran which don't even allow city maps to tourists.

[lovetotravel]

Crashed by itself or shot down is really beside the point. Can you imagine the indignation in the United States if an Iranian spy plane was discovered to be flying over the US? I believe many in the US would consider it an act of war.

Get real. What's a drone in the US going to see from the air. A bunch of suburbs and shopping malls. US military bases aren't that secret. The world knows the US has, by far, the strongest military worldwide. There are military bases in the US where you can drive right by the chain link fences and take photos if you want to. No big deal. The US is an open country, where late night talk show hosts can lambast anybody and anything without a care. It's the opposite of hyper paranoid places like Iran which don't even allow city maps to tourists.

Uh, you've obviously not spent much time in/around US bases. Some are no big deal, others are highly guarded. And totally off limits anywhere near their fences. I've been escorted away from more than a few.

[Scott]

An off-topic post has been removed. Please re-read the OP and don't bother to respond to baiting, troll posts.

[Farma]

Just watched them showing it off on the news. Iran claims they took remote control of it with other reports the Chinese are on their way to inspect it.

The leading edge and parts shown look in pretty good nik. The underside hidden by flags may be a different matter. Interesting they could easily lift the spoiler up. Suggests it's been stripped out and only a shell on display.

[Orac]

I would be very surprised if they managed to take control of the drone electronically. If they were able to do this then why let on to the US that they had this capability let alone announce it to the general public. The chaos they could have caused by crashing one of these things into a sensitive target would have been priceless.

[Steely Dan]

I doubt the photos are real, even if they are the Iranians plan to reverse engineer the drone? I seriously doubt they have the capabilities to do so...

and neither do they have the capability to build ballistic missiles or nuclear warheads. they just excel in herding sheep and goats as well as growing good quality pistachios and knotting colourful rugs.

the European missile defence system pushed by the Greatest Nation on Earth™ is to prevent the invasion of Iranian shepherds who are looking for jobs as carpenters, electricians and plumbers (mainly in Eastern Europe).

I agree about the Pistachios but you would expect that as their theocratic rulers belonging to The religion of peace™ are a veritable academy for nuts.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Steely Dan

[Steely Dan]

I would be very surprised if they managed to take control of the drone electronically. If they were able to do this then why let on to the US that they had this capability let alone announce it to the general public. The chaos they could have caused by crashing one of these things into a sensitive target would have been priceless.

Perhaps the Russians had a hand in this. I would at least have expected a rapid U.S move to destroy the remains of the plane considering not only it's technology but also data on what/where it was monitoring.

http://www.debka.com/article/21550/

Iran exhibited the top-secret US stealth drone RQ-170 Sentinel captured on Sunday, Dec. 4. Its almost perfect condition confirmed Tehran's claim that the UAV was downed by a cyber attack, meaning it was not shot down but brought in undamaged by an electronic warfare ambush.

[koheesti]

Iran exhibited the top-secret US stealth drone RQ-170 Sentinel captured on Sunday, Dec. 4. Its almost perfect condition confirmed Tehran's claim that the UAV was downed by a cyber attack, meaning it was not shot down but brought in undamaged by an electronic warfare ambush.

So if the drone is in near "perfect condition" that confirms that the Iranians brought it down by an "electronic warfare ambush"? No it doesn't. It could have malfunctioned. It could be a trojan horse full of nasty worms knowing where the Iranians (or Chinese) will bring it. Unfortunately, I don't think our guys would think of that.