US UAV shot down by Iran Bravo!

[tun_dr_m]

http://www.dawn.com/2011/12/05/iran-says-it-shot-down-drone-isaf-hints-at-us-ownership.html

Iran says it shot down drone; Isaf hints at US ownership
From the Newspaper | Front Page |
(7 hours ago) Today

KABUL, Dec 4: The Nato-led military force in Afghanistan said on Sunday that a drone which Iran reported shooting down in its territory “may” belong to the United States.

“The UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) to which the Iranians are referring may be a US unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week,” the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said.

“The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status.”

Iran’s military has said it shot down a US Army drone inside its territory near the Afghan and Pakistani borders and is threatening to retaliate, Iranian media reported.

The Al-Alam Arabic language satellite channel, quoting a military source in Iran’s joint chiefs of staff, said on Sunday night the RQ-170 UAV was shot down “a few hours ago”.

The Fars news agency quoted a source saying the drone had “briefly” made an incursion into Iran’s eastern airspace.

The unnamed military source warned that Iran’s armed response would “not be limited to our country’s borders” for the “blatant territorial violation”.

There are around 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan, about 100,000 from the US, fighting a Taliban-led insurgency.

The latest report comes at a time of heightened political tension over Iran’s nuclear programme, with speculation rife that Israel is mulling air strikes against Iranian atomic facilities, with or without US backing.—AFP

 

[tun_dr_m]

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/伊朗稱擊落無人機-美方不願證實-085613504.html

伊朗稱擊落無人機 美方不願證實

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新頭殼作者： NewTalk 新頭殼 | 新頭殼 – 2011年12月5日 下午6:30
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伊朗稱擊落無人機 美方不願證實放大照片

伊朗稱擊落無人機 美方不願證實

新頭殼newtalk 2011.12.05 楊宗興/綜合報導

伊朗官方媒體報導，一架美軍無人偵察機（UAV）遭伊朗擊落。國際安全援助部隊（ISAF）表示，上週確實有一架UAV在執行任務時失蹤，但拒絕透露型號。外界研判，有可能是美軍的RQ-170「哨兵式」（Sentinel）無人偵察機，而這架UAV殘骸所包含的匿蹤科技，則有可能遭伊朗進行研究或是賣給中國、俄羅斯。

英國國家廣播公司（BBC）報導指出，伊朗軍方聲稱在東部與阿富汗交界的邊境，擊落一架美國的隱形無人偵察機，當局強調，將對任何侵犯伊朗領空的行為採取報復行動。伊朗軍方透露，這架UAV只有輕微受損。

ISAF在聲明中表示：「伊朗提到的無人飛行載具（UAV），或許是美國上週在阿富汗西部出任務的非武裝偵察機。這架UAV的操作人員失去對飛機的控制，一直嘗試瞭解它目前狀況。」不過，1名不願具名的美國官員說：「完全沒有跡象顯示伊朗擊落這架無人機」。

外界研判，這架UAV即有可能是美軍的RQ-170「哨兵式」（Sentinel）無人偵察機，RQ-170於2007年首次在阿富汗坎達哈空軍基地亮相，並贏得「坎達哈野獸」的稱呼。

RQ-170曾被用來為美軍特種部隊在巴基斯坦的狙殺賓拉登行動中提供情報，據信現在已經在許多長程情報搜集行動中取代U2載人偵察機。。

消息人士透露，UAV具有如果失聯就會消除機密的設計，不過若其殘骸被保留下來，極有可能被拿來拆解仿造，如果伊朗本身沒有複製的能力，將有可能將殘骸賣給有能力的中國或俄羅斯，將可提升兩國的隱形技術。

 

[vamjok]

Bo liao shoot down unmanned aircraft so happy. Shoot down a F22 then celebrate la

 

[mentor_LEE]

Bo liao shoot down unmanned aircraft so happy. Shoot down a F22 then celebrate la

In today's war against US it is crucial to shoot these UAVs down. Anything that flies for the US must shoot down.

 

[tun_dr_m]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/12/05/us-military-sources-iran-has-missing-us-drone/

U.S. Military Sources: Iran Has Missing U.S. Drone

Published December 05, 2011

| FoxNews.com

The RQ-170 Sentinel

U.S. Air Force

FILE: The RQ-170 Sentinel produced by Lockheed Martin. On Dec. 5, 2011, the U.S. military confirmed the spy drone was in the possession of the Iranian regime, which claimed it shot it down in its air space last week.

Iran is in possession of a RQ-170 Sentinel drone that went missing over the Islamic Republic, U.S. military sources told Fox News on Monday.

The Sentinel is the same kind of stealth high tech drone that was used to monitor the compound during the raid that killed Usama bin Laden in Pakistan, the sources said.

The sources confirmed the Iranians have the drone, however, they did not say that the Iranians shot down the spy plane, as was reported by Iran's official IRNA news agency.

"An advanced RQ-170 unmanned American spy plane was shot down by Iran's armed forces. It suffered minor damage and is now in possession of Iran's armed forces," IRNA quoted an unidentified Iranian military official saying Sunday. The official also warned of strong and crushing response to any violations of the country's airspace by American drone aircraft.

Earlier, the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan issued a statement saying the aircraft may have been a drone that operators lost contact with last week while it was flying a mission over neighboring western Afghanistan.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the incident, said the U.S. had "absolutely no indication" that the drone was shot down.

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 developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the accusations, saying its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and that it seeks to generate electricity and produce isotopes to treat medical patients.

The RQ-170 Sentinel is made by Lockheed Martin and is equipped with stealth technology.

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. In July, Iranian military officials showed Russian experts several U.S. drones they said were shot down in recent years.

Also in July, Iranian lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari said Iran's Revolutionary Guard shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that was trying to gather information on an underground uranium enrichment site.

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., told Fox News on Monday that "it's less likely than not" that the Iranians did not shoot down the plane, but it had a mechanical or computer malfunction that caused it to go down "and then used it for propaganda purposes."

"In the past, they have claimed these shoot-downs and been unable to produce any pieces of the drone, and currently, they have not exhibited any piece of the RQ-170 yet," he said.

 

[tun_dr_m]

RQ-170 Sentinel
At the Farnborough International Air Show
Role Unmanned aerial vehicle
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin
Introduction 2007
Primary user United States Air Force
Number built 251
Unit cost $6,000,000:*:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_RQ-170_Sentinel

 

[singveld]

 

[singveld]