Iranian Military says they have downed a US Drone ...

[qamar]

US RQ-170 Sentinel Stealth drone used in a Iranian propaganda

[oldsoak]

Apart from loiter ability, what does a drone provide in terms of data that the USA's spy satellites cant provide ?
Is it at all possible that this drone capture may not be what it seems ? By that, is there a possibility that its capture will force the funding of the next generation of stealth drones ? Might suit some in the US. Also, just how current is its stealth ? Stealth flying wing concept has been out a good few years - coatings and construction might actually be older than we realise - we're talking at least 5, maybe even 10 years here, sensor payloads might not be that current ( and I might argue, deliberately so ). Might be a great way of getting your opponents concentrating on a set of technologies that are old hat by ensuring they get a drone thats isnt useful anymore because its no longer has the requisite stealth. Public appearances at places like Khandahar airport arent exactly something you'd want for state of the art stuff. if its already been said, my apologies, just my 2p .

[Silent Reader]

............

I guess drones can provide higher resolution images as well as real time footage in a higher resolution.

As for the idea of an intentional crash - I do not think so. Even if the drone is already a few years behind what the US currently has in its inventory... it is probably still at least a decade ahead of what most countries in Africa or parts of Asia have right now. If Iran (or China) can produce a cheap copy and sell it to all those countries it will be a pita some time in the future during peacekeeping / regime change or whatever missions...

[oldsoak]

Fair point, however, I can understand the need for real time intel in terms of trying to catch an enemy commander or target an enemy convoy or even for tracking the likes of a potential OBL in an, ahem, "ambivalent" country , but would it be needed right now for Iran ? the US isnt at war with them yet, and the Iranians are very keen to publish what capabilities they have - and they may have shown their hand rather handsomely in that it is now apparent to the US what Irans capabilities are ref radar and ESM/ECM - something that the Iranians may regret. For figuring out what the Iranian nuclear capability is like, I'm not sure that drones can provide anything more than the already very sophisitcated spy satellites and old fashioned humint can. Heck, what does the US do for countries such as China and Russia ? Two countries with a lot more serious capability than the Iranians, and the Iranians are the only ones to bring a drone down ? However, for figuring out just what level of stealth can get into Iranian airspace and survive or to plant a red herring, a drone does nicely.

[archibald harry tuttle]

Well there have been lots of mystery explosions in Iran lately, maybe the drone was paiinting targets for the CIA-Zionist laser gun and cancer ray satellites.

[KoTeMoRe]

Fair point, however, I can understand the need for real time intel in terms of trying to catch an enemy commander or target an enemy convoy or even for tracking the likes of a potential OBL in an, ahem, "ambivalent" country , but would it be needed right now for Iran ? the US isnt at war with them yet, and the Iranians are very keen to publish what capabilities they have - and they may have shown their hand rather handsomely in that it is now apparent to the US what Irans capabilities are ref radar and ESM/ECM - something that the Iranians may regret. For figuring out what the Iranian nuclear capability is like, I'm not sure that drones can provide anything more than the already very sophisitcated spy satellites and old fashioned humint can. Heck, what does the US do for countries such as China and Russia ? Two countries with a lot more serious capability than the Iranians, and the Iranians are the only ones to bring a drone down ? However, for figuring out just what level of stealth can get into Iranian airspace and survive or to plant a red herring, a drone does nicely.

The problem with Iran is exactly that. They float their own broadcasts, statements publications with everything and nothing. You have also to accept the fact some people are one trick poneys. They tend to rely overly on assets they use on different tactical situations. Sometimes complacency and overconfidence does stuff no plot can justify. Some guy thought it would be a great asset to have at hand sending that sentinel over Iran.

[GEF110]

My friend posted the second part in his series on the Sentinel's historical lineage. Check it out, make sure you read the first part first, as this is kinda a prequel, its linked at the top. It has to do with a project I had knowledge of before, called Tassit Blue from the 80's, pretty cool, check it out:
http://aviationintel.com/2012/01/12/...of-tacit-blue/

[Camera]

[



Cancelled wrong thread

[KoTeMoRe]

Wrong thread mate.

[fiorellabel]

The problem with Iran is exactly that. They float their own broadcasts, statements publications with everything and nothing. You have also to accept the fact some people are one trick poneys. They tend to rely overly on assets they use on different tactical situations. Sometimes complacency and overconfidence does stuff no plot can justify. Some guy thought it would be a great asset to have at hand sending that sentinel over Iran.

QUOTE +1
Compiacency and overconfidence in one'own tecnological superiority (and in the given case a costant and stubborn underestimation of the opponent) have surely had the greatest share in that epic fiasco.
What I fear is that wrong attitude seems me to be not confined only to the given case, but much more deep rooted in actual Usa/Western mentality and consequently in their own aerial warfare doctrine and development plans.
Let me explain myself better: I actually follow also russian threads and the ones about F-22 and F-35.
Well, I'm convinced that Iran boast about how cleanly they have taken control of the drone are quite surely exagerated for propaganda pourposes, but surely the ESM and EW systems they have received from Russia are more than enought to have cut its links with its own base and bringed it down.
In the same moment main russian picture thread is actually full of images of Old/New metric wavelenght radars being put (back) in service and a little more search about their passive radio location and gps-jamming systems has given me quite the creep.
No, not for the number and variety of models they have developed, but about how much of them they are actually planning to deploy at protection of their own (and of their friends) ground forces and military installations.
In other words they (and I think Chinese also) are not only trying to close the tecnological gap they had in regard to certain top tier tecnologies in the classical, straightforward way of introducing their own version of them but also introducing (in the lateral way of thinking) adequate yet simple countermeasures to radically reduce the otherwise decisive advantages those advanced sistems can bring on the battlefield.
Now, even when all those countermeasures would be set up, stealth would surely keep on to be an important feature on an aircraft, not all drones would be put down, nor all signals spotted nor all Jdams scrambled, but a consistent reduction of all those features cumulated together make me fell quite uneasy to the idea of spending 120 millions$ for one 2000lbs-carring bomb truck

[IRN34]

http://www.mehrnews.com/en/newsdetai...NewsID=1639781

TEHRAN, July 1 (MNA) - New information has been obtained from an advanced U.S. spy drone that Iran brought down in 2011, but the details will not be released to the press, Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Sunday. Iran announced on December 4, 2011 that an advanced RQ-170 unmanned U.S. spy plane had been brought down by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic but did not say when the incident occurred. The commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, announced on April 21 that Iran had successfully reverse-engineered the drone. EP/PA
END
MNA

[Lazy Lob]

Coolies ......... when is Airfix going to get the plans?

[bagera 3005]

US RQ-170 Sentinel Stealth downed looks an sounds like a
Trojan Horse can you think of batter way to get bugs in systems in Iran

[IconOfEvi]

The Jews did it obviously, amirite?

[memfisa]

US RQ-170 Sentinel Stealth downed looks an sounds like a
Trojan Horse can you think of batter way to get bugs in systems in Iran

The internet and removable storage devices come to mind.