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Iran claims to have shot down US spy plane

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US military admits unmanned drone lost over Afghanistan last week.

Iranian officials are claiming to have shot down a secret US military drone over their airspace. While US officials dispute the claim, they have admitted to losing such a craft over western Afghanistan last week. While Iran is still yet to produce proof of their claim, it is likely that the drone has been lost and may even be in Iranian hands.

Highlights

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
12/5/2011 (1 decade ago)

Published in Middle East

Keywords: UAV, drone, Afghanistan, Iran, military

WASHINGTON DC (Catholic Online) - Iranian state television has quoted that country's military as saying that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had been shot down over Iranian airspace. US officials confirm that once such UAV was lost last week when operators reportedly "lost control" of the craft.

US military officials claim the UAV was conducting a reconnaissance mission over western Afghanistan when it was lost. Iranian officials claim the UAV violated their airspace.

This is not the first time in which Iran has claimed their airspace has been violated by drones. In fact, Iran claims that their airspace is routinely violated by Israeli and American spy aircraft. They have even claim to have shot down some of these drones in the past, but such claims have never been proven. This time however, their claims coincide with the US admission that a drone has been lost in the region.

Complicating matters further, the particular UAV that was lost is reported to be a (relatively) secret, stealth UAV that is virtually undetectable to radar. If Iranian claims are true, then a technologically sophisticated piece of US espionage hardware could potentially be in the hands of an entity hostile to the US. 

The UAV in question is known as a Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel. It is the same type of vehicle that was reportedly used to monitor the raid on bin Laden's compound earlier this year.

Iran has been looking to develop their own drone aircraft and capturing an intact example of such a vehicle could potentially provide that country with a technological boost as they reverse engineer the equipment. Three years ago, Iran announced they had built their first unmanned aerial vehicle with a range of 600 miles, sufficient to reach Israel. At that time, Iranian President Ahmadinejad referred to it as an "ambassador of death" to Iran's enemies.

The only consolation the US can take from this event, if true, is that it will probably be many years before Iran will be able to reverse engineer and duplicate the technology of the vehicle -- if ever.

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