Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

[Federate]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

Iran has captured another drone, a US ScanEagle

[CIM]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

a nuclear Middle East certainly isn't going to make the world a safer place.

With the Turks Israelis and Saudi Arabs around, I prefer a nuclear Iran. 1915.

[retro]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

If they jammed the drones comms it's possible that it glided down. Iran has several technical institutes and they are fairly good at science. However they are still quite limited. The think about Iran is that it's fairly stable. However a nuclear Middle East certainly isn't going to make the world a safer place.

[CIM]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

in order to glide under control you need your flight control system functional....there is no other way.

100% right. Drones don't freak out and then land softly. Someone took over its controls. And again, it doesn't look like it was shot down. If you drop a plane from the sky with fire, it will not look like that picture.

[CIM]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

Looks like Iran did in fact captured (not shotdown) a CIA operated stealth UAV RQ-170.....they are saying that they hacked into its flight program, took control of it, and landed (gear up) the UAV with minimum damage.
Zendeh baud Irane mah.

I agree. This is good for us. It means that Iranians can help us take down Azerbaboon drones. And yes, it was not shotdown - anyone that has ever seen a plane crash knows what that looks like. They clearly captured it, which is a major public relations coup. Good job Iran

[ZORAVAR]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

About the only nation that could out-lie Azerbaijan in a lying competition is the USA. Azeris can effortlessly lie morning, noon, and night, day in day out - but only Americans lie to themselves even when asleep - and believe their own lies when doing so. So nothing they claim can be believed.

Sorry, but I couldn't restrain myself to fix your post

Did someone made that fiberglass joke in their garage? If it were real, why are none of its internal components shown, or its landing gear? Why is it sitting on a big table? Or maybe it is just a copy of the real thing - the real one being either too smashed-up for propaganda uses or it has been already dissected for its technology (and with any usable components being reused in one of Iranair's aged Boeings.

This analysis has all your answers: http://aviationintel.com/?p=4322


All those who doubt the authenticity of the UAV should read it.

[Mher]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

Transcript of above video

Bob, do you think the drone shown on Iranian TV is the real thing?

Robert Baer: Oh, I think it absolutely is. I mean, it's not something that they could imitate and fake. I think what happened is it was either forced down by hacking or it in fact landed - these drones are programmable to land on flat ground. There is no evidence of damage though. That's my question.

Anderson Cooper: So you think the Iranians actually hacked into the system?

Robert Baer: There's a possibility they did. Washington has denied it so far. But they can hack into these things and order them to land. They can override American controls.

Anderson Cooper: It's interesting, Fareed. I mean, this is kind of a glimpse of if in fact this is a real drone and they did hack it or bring it down somehow. This is just a glimpse into what is basically a stealth war - a covert war between the U.S. and Iran, isn't it?

Fareed Zakaria: Absolutely. This is something we sometimes forget. The United States is very actively engaged in all sorts of operations against Iran. The drones are one part of it. They are also funding certain kinds of groups that operate on Iran's borders.

The other sense in which this is a glimpse of the future perhaps is Iran is using asymmetrical methods - asymmetrical warfare - to bring down America's advantages. They can't build a drone, but they figured out a way to hack into the system and bring down our drone.

I agree with Bob. It's unclear what's happened, but because there does not seem to be significant damage, there is at least a decent chance that what happened is that the Iranians figured out some way to do this. And that's a very interesting example of asymmetrical warfare. It's what the Chinese study when they look at how to do battle with us. It's what the Iranians are obviously studying.

Anderson Cooper: There has also, Bob, been hacking of - by some whether it's the U.S. or Israel or someone else - of Iranian nuclear facilities. And, in fact, Iranian nuclear scientists, some of them have been killed in the streets in Iran, haven't they?

Robert Baer: Yes, I think this undoubtedly the Israelis. The United States is not waging a lethal war against Iran right now. There's no authority for it. If there were, we would have seen leaks of this so far. So, I think it's our best guess is it's the Israelis. But in the Iranian's eyes, we're allied with them and we may as well be responsible. I think Fareed is absolutely right. We're seeing this shadow war starting to escalate and in a serious way.

Anderson Cooper: If Iran does, in fact, have the U.S. drone from an intelligence standpoint, how bad is that? Somebody compared it to dropping a Ferrari in an ox-cart-technology culture, basically saying Iran wouldn't have any idea what to do with it. Do you agree that?

Fareed Zakaria: Not at all. I think that's absurd. Remember, this is a fairly advanced country. This is an advanced society. It is 90 million people. They are producing centrifuges by the dozens. They are moving on a nuclear program.

The drone is also very advanced technology that they would be very interested in. It's very recent. It was unveiled in 2009. This is a big deal. I would be interested to know what Bob thinks. But it strikes me that this exposes very vulnerable, very new American technology.

Also remember, the Iranians now have something that the Chinese and Russians want. And there are various ways they can share it with plausible deniability. They can do photographs. They can do blueprints. So, all of a sudden they have something that the Russians envy and the Chinese want. So guess what? The next time there are U.N. Security Council sanctions the Russians and Chinese are going to have a series of interesting conversations with the Iranians.

Anderson Cooper: Bob, do you agree with that? This is technology that Iranians might share with the Russians, the Chinese?

Robert Baer: Absolutely. I mean, if the Iranians themselves can't get into this and figure out how it works, they'll invite the Chinese in from one of these parastatal companies. They'll look at it. And this is extremely damaging because this drone had, you know, thermal imaging cameras. The resolution on the photography is very, very good. And as we know, it's the same drone that was used to surveil bin Laden's compound before the raid. And it plays a key role in collecting intelligence as it does against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Anderson Cooper: So, Bob, I mean,countries like China and Russia, they don't have this drone technology already?

Robert Baer: Not this good, no. I mean, we truly are at the best. We've been working at it for ten years. It's been a key element in the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and over the tribal areas of Pakistan. I think this is another intelligence catastrophe.

Anderson Cooper: Fareed, it is amazing the extent to which the drones have really impacted the battlefield in Pakistan and Afghanistan and elsewhere.

Fareed Zakaria: I think one forgets that terrorist organizations, you know, are very small groups with leaders who are absolutely crucial. And what the drone is able to do is to exploit that disadvantage that terrorist organizations have. They are not large institutional structures that can go on without key leaders. So, you can target a few key people with a drone - and the drones have gotten increasingly accurate - and you have enormous advantages because can you disrupt the entire organization.

The war against al Qaeda has really been a war against the senior leadership using drones. You can't underestimate the importance of it. And this is one of the unique weapons in America's arsenal. The Chinese don't have it. The Russians don't have it. To the best of our knowledge, nobody in the world has something like this.

[Mher]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

CNN discussion of drone's authenticity, and potential ramifications

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2011/12/09/ac-zakaria-baer-downed-drone-iran.cnn

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

About the only nation that could out-lie Azerbaijan in a lying competition is Iran. Azeris can effortlessly lie morning, noon, and night, day in day out - but only Iranians lie to themselves even when asleep - and believe their own lies when doing so. So nothing they claim can be believed.

Did someone made that fiberglass joke in their garage? If it were real, why are none of its internal components shown, or its landing gear? Why is it sitting on a big table? Or maybe it is just a copy of the real thing - the real one being either too smashed-up for propaganda uses or it has been already dissected for its technology (and with any usable components being reused in one of Iranair's aged Boeings. )

[retro]

Re: Iran says it shot down unmanned US spy plane

I don't know flying wings are good gliders and these drones are very lightweight. Either way, this incident plays well for the Iranians and their cronies.

....The officials said that, depending on the real condition of the wreckage, Chinese or Russian access to the drone is a much greater concern than a possible Iranian effort to reverse-engineer the RQ-170, which they said is unlikely given the drone’s special coatings and other materials.

As for its stealthy shape, they said, an RQ-170 has been photographed, and basic stealth shape and skin technology is now some 35 years old.

The officials said that the loss of the RQ-170 is a warning about the limitations of drone technology and the dangers of relying too heavily on it.

First, they said, although the newest drones are being designed to operate autonomously, they still need to navigate by communicating with global positioning satellites, and those communications, the satellites and ground stations are vulnerable to jamming and deception, by sophisticated enemies.

In recent years, one of the officials said, computer hackers thought to be part of extensive Chinese or Russian cyber espionage efforts have attacked the computer networks of numerous defence contractors, including Lockheed Martin; broken into two satellite ground stations and planted keystroke logging software in some military computers.

Second, even the most advanced drones aren’t immune to air defence systems, and advances in infrared detection and Doppler radar, the same kind used to detect tornadoes and other air turbulence, are likely to render them more vulnerable.

The RQ-170 was flying a reconnaissance mission inside Iranian airspace when its controllers lost contact with it, the two U.S. officials said.

The officials said that for three years the U.S. has been flying two types of unmanned surveillance missions over Iran and along the Afghanistan-Iran border from a former Soviet airbase in Shindand in western Afghanistan’s Heart province.

In addition to monitoring construction and other activity at suspected Iranian nuclear facilities from high altitudes, the officials said, the Central Intelligence Agency has been using drones to monitor cross-border traffic and Iranian support for insurgents.

The CIA, not the air force, flies the missions inside Iran so they are covert operations that the U.S. government can deny.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it presented its protest to the Swiss ambassador to Tehran, Livia Leu Agosti, who represents U.S. interests in the country.

In a letter to UN leaders, Iran denounced “the provocative and covert operations” against Iran by the U.S. The “blatant and unprovoked” air violation “is tantamount to an act of hostility,” Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee said in the letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, current president of the Security Council.

http://www.therecord.com/news/world/...-drone-to-iran