Russia PRC North Korea Taliban Al Qaeda etc etc... CELEBRATING... KGB & PRC specialists are tearing the US top secret plane apart.
Iran made profit!
What the PRC specialists said was the US$10 million RQ-170 which fooled to land intact by injecting false GPS coordinates and jamming all other satellite links using a system recently supplied by Moscow. It was caught in Iran by this electronic warfare system to circle around until fuel is too low and forced to land intact. It was deliberate to capture it this way.
http://www.freep.com/article/201112...e-hands?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
Iran's video of U.S. drone puts sensitive info in hostile hands
Dec. 9, 2011 |
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The Iranian Revolutionary Guard released a photo Thursday that it says shows the U.S. drone that was downed.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard released a photo Thursday that it says shows the U.S. drone that was downed. / Sepah News via Associated Press
By Kimberly Dozier and Lolita C. Baldor
Associated Press
Filed Under
Local News
Nation/World
WASHINGTON -- Iran's capture of a largely intact, top secret U.S. drone, which it displayed on government television, not only lays bare America's surveillance program over Iran, but it also puts sensitive, advanced technology in hostile hands.
A former U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press that the beige drone featured in a video about 2 minutes long that was aired Thursday was indeed an RQ170 Sentinel used for surveillance of Iran's nuclear facilities. The U.S. military said it lost control of a drone earlier this week.
Iranian officials quickly claimed their military forces had downed the Sentinel with an electronic attack. But on Thursday, U.S. officials flatly rejected the claim that any cyber or other electronic-related activity was responsible for the loss of the drone.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the drone mission is classified.
The video, which showed Iranian officials examining the drone, provided the first evidence of the capture. More important, it revealed the aircraft to be nearly in one piece.
That alone confirmed experts' contention that the classified aircraft can be programmed to land safely if its communications link is lost.
Robotics expert Peter Singer, who has written about the use of drones in war, said the Sentinel is programmed to circle in the air or land if its communications link is lost. Until the video came out, U.S. officials and other experts were suggesting the drone may have crashed, leaving Iran with only scattered pieces.
Pentagon officials refused to comment Thursday on the drone, saying they do not talk about classified surveillance programs.
The episode, however, could be a serious setback for what has been an escalating surveillance program, aimed largely at Iran's nuclear facilities, that has gone on for years from a U.S. air base in Afghanistan and other bases in the region.
It gives the Iranians the opportunity to share or sell the drone to others, such as the Chinese and Russians, who might be better able to exploit any technological information gleaned from examining it.
U.S. officials are concerned that others may be able to reverse-engineer the chemical composition of the drone's radar-deflecting paint or the aircraft's sophisticated optics technology that allows operators to positively identify terrorism suspects from tens of thousands of feet in the air.
Adversaries also might be able to hack into the drone's database, although it is not clear whether they would be able to recover any data. Some surveillance technologies allow video to stream through to operators on the ground but do not store much collected data. If they do, it is encrypted.
Singer of the Brookings Institution said that while some of the mechanics of the aircraft are well known, other aspects -- especially its sensors -- would be important to countries like China.
"This is the jewel for them now," Singer said.
The incident comes at a sensitive time as the U.S. and other nations push for stronger sanctions against Tehran to stifle its nuclear ambitions.
It also could complicate U.S. relations with Afghanistan, according to Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official now with the Brookings Institution.
"This crash suddenly puts Afghanistan into the Iran crisis, which will make (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai very nervous and worried," said Riedel, who has advised the Obama White House on Afghanistan. "He is already a proxy in a war with Pakistan. Now he is a proxy in a covert war with Iran the Afghan people knew nothing about."
Iran made profit!
What the PRC specialists said was the US$10 million RQ-170 which fooled to land intact by injecting false GPS coordinates and jamming all other satellite links using a system recently supplied by Moscow. It was caught in Iran by this electronic warfare system to circle around until fuel is too low and forced to land intact. It was deliberate to capture it this way.
http://www.freep.com/article/201112...e-hands?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s
Iran's video of U.S. drone puts sensitive info in hostile hands
Dec. 9, 2011 |
Comments
A
A
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard released a photo Thursday that it says shows the U.S. drone that was downed.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard released a photo Thursday that it says shows the U.S. drone that was downed. / Sepah News via Associated Press
By Kimberly Dozier and Lolita C. Baldor
Associated Press
Filed Under
Local News
Nation/World
WASHINGTON -- Iran's capture of a largely intact, top secret U.S. drone, which it displayed on government television, not only lays bare America's surveillance program over Iran, but it also puts sensitive, advanced technology in hostile hands.
A former U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press that the beige drone featured in a video about 2 minutes long that was aired Thursday was indeed an RQ170 Sentinel used for surveillance of Iran's nuclear facilities. The U.S. military said it lost control of a drone earlier this week.
Iranian officials quickly claimed their military forces had downed the Sentinel with an electronic attack. But on Thursday, U.S. officials flatly rejected the claim that any cyber or other electronic-related activity was responsible for the loss of the drone.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the drone mission is classified.
The video, which showed Iranian officials examining the drone, provided the first evidence of the capture. More important, it revealed the aircraft to be nearly in one piece.
That alone confirmed experts' contention that the classified aircraft can be programmed to land safely if its communications link is lost.
Robotics expert Peter Singer, who has written about the use of drones in war, said the Sentinel is programmed to circle in the air or land if its communications link is lost. Until the video came out, U.S. officials and other experts were suggesting the drone may have crashed, leaving Iran with only scattered pieces.
Pentagon officials refused to comment Thursday on the drone, saying they do not talk about classified surveillance programs.
The episode, however, could be a serious setback for what has been an escalating surveillance program, aimed largely at Iran's nuclear facilities, that has gone on for years from a U.S. air base in Afghanistan and other bases in the region.
It gives the Iranians the opportunity to share or sell the drone to others, such as the Chinese and Russians, who might be better able to exploit any technological information gleaned from examining it.
U.S. officials are concerned that others may be able to reverse-engineer the chemical composition of the drone's radar-deflecting paint or the aircraft's sophisticated optics technology that allows operators to positively identify terrorism suspects from tens of thousands of feet in the air.
Adversaries also might be able to hack into the drone's database, although it is not clear whether they would be able to recover any data. Some surveillance technologies allow video to stream through to operators on the ground but do not store much collected data. If they do, it is encrypted.
Singer of the Brookings Institution said that while some of the mechanics of the aircraft are well known, other aspects -- especially its sensors -- would be important to countries like China.
"This is the jewel for them now," Singer said.
The incident comes at a sensitive time as the U.S. and other nations push for stronger sanctions against Tehran to stifle its nuclear ambitions.
It also could complicate U.S. relations with Afghanistan, according to Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official now with the Brookings Institution.
"This crash suddenly puts Afghanistan into the Iran crisis, which will make (Afghan President Hamid) Karzai very nervous and worried," said Riedel, who has advised the Obama White House on Afghanistan. "He is already a proxy in a war with Pakistan. Now he is a proxy in a covert war with Iran the Afghan people knew nothing about."
