Report: Iran shoots down U.S. reconnaissance drone
Iranian media reports U.S. spy plane that violated airspace along the eastern border was shot down and is in possession of Iranian troops.
By Reuters and The Associated Press Tags: Iran Iran nuclearIran's military shot down a U.S. reconnaissance drone aircraft in eastern Iran, a military source told state television on Sunday.
"Iran's military has downed an intruding RQ-170 American drone in eastern Iran," Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam state television network quoted the unnamed source as saying.
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A Heron drone in El Salvador, in May 2009 |
| Photo by: AP |
Iran is locked in a dispute with the U.S. and its allies over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, which the West believes is aimed at the development of nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusations, saying its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.
Iran said in January that two pilotless spy planes it had shot down over its airspace were operated by the United States and offered to put them on public display.
The Islamic Republic holds frequent military drills, primarily to assert an ability to defend against a potential U.S.¬ or Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities.
Tehran has focused part of its military strategy on producing drones for reconnaissance and attacking purposes.
Iran announced three years ago it had built an unmanned aircraft with a range of more than 1,000 kilometers, far enough to reach Israel.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled Iran's first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft in August 2010, calling it an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.
On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Iran is getting closer to developing a nuclear bomb, and that new and more crippling sanctions should be imposed on the Islamic Republic.
Speaking on "Meet the Press," a Channel 2 program, Barak denied however that the latest blasts that occurred in Iran mark the beginning of a military campaign. Barak said actions against Iran are being carried out in the diplomatic sphere, through sanctions and through the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). When asked if a clandestine war against Iran has already begun, he replied: "I think the answer to that is no."
Read this article in Hebrew: איראן טוענת: הפלנו מל"ט אמריקאי חמקן
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However, I fear that, somehow, this will offer irrefutable proof to the US of Israel that Iran is a rogue warmongering nation out to...hmmm...shoot every object that violates their space space which, of course, means they must be invaded, occupied and their vast oil supplies siphoned as quickly as possible.
How do they verify the claim?
and you should watch out for fire works even if it not the 4 th of July
See what happened over Bosnia. Iran has millions of eyes on its borders happily looking for the chance to say they helped shoot down an Israeli plane. After all, Israel has been threatening Iran overtly since 1979 and completely worked against Iran before 1979, as stated by the Shah on TV (youtube available)
US reconnaissance drone downed in E. Iran.. Why the hell didn't the Americans destroy it from the air,just as Israel had done in S.Lebanon,to a hearing device ?
for sure , a war will be a world catastrophe .
because all the parts were stamped "Made in China".
Sad but true. However, weapons is the only thing still proudly Made in USA...with slave prison labor!
The RQ-170 is a very stealthy aircraft resembling the B-2 stealth bomber. It is a tactical reconnaissance platform. If you can whack it, you can whack any airplane the USA or Israel operates.
Having stealth does not mean an aircraft cant be shot down. Its still visible in other frequency ranges, e.g. visible light and infrared.
Technical or mechanical problem? That its mostly intact suggests it was not shot down. However...what you say is 100% correct without knowing the real circumstances. It IS food for thought...for anyone who thinks attacking Iran will be a picnic
This isia blunt lie just to legitimize terror attacks around the world. It is not very credible that they would bring down an American drone and not show pictures of it. The same lie as the alleged capture of the CIA agents where evidence was never presented either!
You mean the same sort of lie that Iraq had WMD's and that the North Vietnames fired first in the famous Gulf of Tonkin incident?
as soon as possible
The rest of the world happens to think the same thing...about Israel!
For shooting down a drone invading its airspace? For seeking deterrence against an Israeli military threat? Or just cuz you say so?
Have skilled, experienced model aircraft builders re plicate F-117 'Nighthawk' stealth aircraft in 'large- scale' form, placing all propulsion components inside to reduce heat-signature and propellor or turbine rotation--just like the prototype.. With satel- lite and GPS communications, the 'Nitehawklet' is invisible to the badguys. The drones cud 'fly wing- man' just behind and to the side of 'legit' adversary machines, like regional commuter or executive air- craft [like the submarine that enters/departs an en- emy harbor by following enemy ships in/out and is not detected by sonar]?..What missions are possi- ble with a whole squadron or group of these invisi ble 'model airplanes' with parts cut-out like cookies and assembled like hobbyist kits? How many kits fit in a standard freight shipping container? If they remain Stateside, the pilots cud be 15-16 yrs-old teen game-experts and old, retired jet-jockeys?. Aaron Allen...
Is a blended-body flying wing design, built to be as stealthy as possible without using sensitive technology such as radar absorbant coating, angled intakes and landing gear doors, and thermal signature reduction. However, its size would give it small RCS anyway, so if it was brought down by a ground to air missile, Iran would be capable of downing an F-35.
This is a catastrophe. Perhaps the RQ-170 were intentionally retarded to test Iran's anti-air capabilities. The RQ-170 is supposed to replace the U.S's current unarmed UAV...hopefully the Russians and Chinese won't be able to reproduce the technology on this giant which can attain altitudes of 50,000+ ft.
you have not been oppressed - israel welcomes all to get educations and add value to their economy. Complaining your whole life while never trying to take advantages of benefits Israel offers you does not give anyone justice. Go for it!
Imagine not taking advantage of occupation, genocide and Apartheid. A fool indeed!
Who would you believe = a suspected liar or a proven one.
That is pretty lame on the part of Haaretz. A picture of the correct drone is easily accessible on the internet.
Because no one has ever seen one for sure. So even it's wingspan estimated value varies from simple to double, not to mention what it has in its belly...
and it explodes when the Iranians start to try to take it apart.
I can't wait till someone plants a boomerang mechanism into them.
Russia is looking forward to using an Israeli attack on Iran to be the second test of Russian Anti-Aircraft systems on American Warplanes. The only open question is whether or not Israel will "volunteer" Israeli pilots to be "Test Dummies".
Where have all the postings gone? Long time passing, Where have all the postings gone? Long time ago. Where have all the postings gone? Slowman ate them every one. When will he ever quit? When will he e-ver quit? Where have all the censors gone? Long time passing, Where have all the censors gone? Long time ago. Where have all the censors gone? Gone to party every one. When will they ever work? When will they e-ver work?
Of course for them scratching the Regime's back a little bit in that hard to reach spot.
impressive, a blow to US/israeli warmongering.
i really think that its time 4 american to fall
excellent absolutely brilliant!
Based on Panetta's and Clinton's recent comments with regard to the Middle East and the cause of the conflict and issues - perhaps if the US would give the Iranian Regime 20 drones - they will be nice to them?
Iranian "ambassador of death"? the real ones are being expelled by the clumsy decisions a sa result of the power struggles within its ruling caste.
eastern Iraq. So what? It won't prevent the demise of the Iranian nuclear effort.
what a joke they are, what kind of "advanced drone" gets shot down and captured every few months ?
The Iranians are truly out of control. Imagine that, they are shooting perfectly peaceful and legal drones whose only crime (if at all) is to violate their airspace and spy on them. Now, that's what I call a true rogue nation. Compare that to Israel and you'll see the startling differences.
Already its Shia Hezbollah shock troops in Lebanon are being summoned and tasked with the operational details of activating sleeper cells in Europe, S. America, or elsewhere along with the diplomatic cover of its Trojan Horse Terror Embassies abroad to retaliate against America for this incursion.
The US is in no position to invade Iran now or in the future...They're stupid on many things but not when it comes to Iran. Meanwhile, please see your shrink to fix your thinking.
double standards.
treads trouble is sure to follow. Let's count the number of US interventions/invasions against those of Iran. That will tell us why America is the most dangerous of countries--bar none.
so in recognition of this - iran is capable of downing stealth planes.
for the technology geniuses.
Could also be one of the 4 given to Turkey to 'eradicate' Kurdish PKK even in Iraq. There are over 1500 US personnel in Turkey-where U-2 flights operated from or to. Bonn meeting is tomorrow and now there are items in German sites http://www.bild.de/politik/ausland/afghanistankrieg/so-macht-pakistan-jadg-auf-deutsche-soldaten-21360134.bild.html (Iran is a player with Pak/Tal/ISI/AQ ..ISAF Geheimpapier and in Der Spiegeel http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,801521,00html Geheimdokumente unterstuetzung fuer Taliban- NATO prangert Pakistan und Iran an. It seems all the players are not on the same page- these are items planted guess who trying to establish a casus belli. The very same people also planted items about Quaddafi being Jewish in HuffPost ditto Ahmedinejad. Germans also have the drones mentioned.
Good for Iran to copy the technology and build thousands of such drone to sell to others. Iran should destroy US in the neighboring countries. Don't see how Al-Qaeda destroyed American economy?
then do some reverse engeneering and build your own drones
Probably it was one of their own which they allegedly have built themselves. Clumsy with martial material as they are recently! It has the same credibility as the capture of the CIA agents whom nobody ever saw or heard of again!
Drones are good for targeting and destroying. Why send a drone? Were we going to blow something up? Seems like Iran would display anything they could. Bunch of hot air.
Aron be careful for your heart
and UK wonder why they got kicked out?
If the information is correct, then this is no mistake. USA looking for a small fight to test their systems. They have enough drones and keep on improving their equipment. What if Iran did the same to America or Israel ? That's what I mean....
Iran is todays iraq. those who say Iran is a threat are war mongers.
The US RQ-170 looks nothing like the Israeli Heron.
that Israeli papers almost always put illustrations on their articles that are completed unconnected to the content?
(and Reuters and Haaretz are parroting "Al Alam"). There is no independent confirmation online yet.
which makes the Heron look antiquated, and makes Israeli yarn spinning abut the superiority of their kit look ridiculous
A very bad idea indeed that the pasdarans will regret
The US now has a moral justification to nuke Iran. I mean, how rude of the Iranians to defend their own airspace from the most war-loving nation on earth. After all, the plane was watching over Iranian sky from invaders from outer space.
Are you sure it is not an Israeli drone?
I had a close look at it. No Hebrew inscriptions on it,unless it was encrypted.
The Persian cat has big claws!
Iran have a casus belli against Israel and America.
rq 170 has been captured in a slightly damaged state,so Iran will take it apart and have similar drones within 1 year. This is one of the more sophisticated stealth drones, have good second thoughts before entering Iranian airspace with a full sized F-15 or F16.
Same Iran that has no gays, that says Holocaust never happened, and that its nuclear program is only for peaceful means. I am waiting for some indepenndent confirmation, before preaching on hot air.
For those who do not know, the name 'the Beast of Kandahar' was given to a RQ-170 which landed at Kandahar in 2007.
Pretty good shootin' if ya ask me. Does Isreal still wanna start another war.....without backup? Salaam/Shalom
They do it all the time, I see seagulls floating on boards, just like the Iranian aircraft carriers off Buseir
every country have rights to defend their borders area , no country have rights to violate others country's border line.
I understand iran's move. Politics in and towards the region is just too biased. Noone seems to really talk with and listen to what iran has to say...sit back think and work on peace from an unbiased stance and things might improve
This is a great achievement of the Iranian military forces and a cristal clear warning to Israel. Iran has top notch Russian radar systems and very wel capable of downing any type of military aircraft. IAF pilots that may want to try to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities should get the message: you will become the next Ron Arad. So IAF pilots that will try to attack Iran will never see their families again.
What you wish for others will happen to you,your kin & family. Start counting,because your days are short: tic,toc,tic,toc !
There were actually two operations: one was hacking into the cyphered fly guidance signals sent to it and the other was damaging it. This is actually a major achievement on multiple levels: 1) their air defence systems succeeded to detect one of the most advanced stealth planes ever made. Even the existence of RQ170 was a secret. 2) They succeeded to jam/hack its communications. 3) If the collected drone is not seriously damaged, it provides Iranians with the very latest stream of modern technologies about drones.
When the topic is Iran the pro-Israeli crowd swamp the talkback.
WOW, I can see the bullet hole causing the drone to be shot down!! kidding,ok?
How else will they sell this high-tech drone to other states when Iran's just shot it down...The Chinese and Russians will be happy to pay Iran a visit in the next few days with lots of deals in the bag just to have a look-see of this drone...
The UAV which was shot down was the RQ 170, which has got to be incredibly worrying for the powers that be. Although it is hardly surprising, Iran is not Iraq or Afghanistan, it will not be the pushover the warmongers believe it will be Which is why Isael hasn't gone it alone.
WOW, I can see the bullet hole causing the drone to be shot down!! kidding,ok?
.....and they will take it down to one of their holes and then we will all hear of secondary explosions.
The Americans are a law unto themselves because they can afford to be. Obama's big plan was for the US to end this unilateralism attitude and do things the UN way and abide by international law like a good citizen of the world eventually he learned the hard way he needs to take the traditional attitude of its the American way or its no way. Assuming its true and Iran shot down this UAV its not going to stop the US sending UAVS into Iran if it suits them, The US also has satellites spying on Iran 24/7/ so Iran watch out your American big brother is watching.
Nations need to protect their airspace. Maybe they could help Lebanon shoot down Israeli drones.