Iran Shows Off Captured U.S. Drone
Iran scored propaganda points on Thursday by showing a short movie on state-owned Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1 television station which appeared to include Iranian military officials inspecting a relatively intact RQ-170 Sentinel UAV belonging to the U.S. Air Force. Iran had previously claimed that it shot down the drone but are now saying that Cyberwar specialists were able to hack into its receiver code and cause it to land at an Iranian Air Force base instead of returning to the USAF base in Afghanistan from which it originated. Analysts disagreed over the value the aircraft would have to Iran, with some suggesting that it would most likely sell it to China, which has much better technological infrastructure and could make more use of it. Still other analysts suggested that the images which appeared on Iranian TV might be simply of a mock-up that the Iranians built out of plywood, which they could easily have done using images of the RQ-170 found on the internet.
A banner at the foot of the aircraft in the video reads, "The U.S. cannot do a damn thing," which is a direct quotation from Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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By Adam Rawnsley December 8, 2011
wired.com|
China and Russia are apparently chomping at the bit to get a look at the American spy drone that went down over Iran.
On Thursday, an Iranian news site quoted military sources as saying that Russia and China have already asked Iran to view the remains of an American RQ-170 stealth spy drone that recently crashed in Iran. The site — Nasimonline.ir, known to be close to Tehran’s conservative Islamic Coalition Party — is also broadcasting footage of Iranian military officials inspecting what authorities claim is an intact RQ-170.
Russia and China’s interest in inspecting shouldn’t be too surprising. Both countries lag behind the U.S. in stealth technology, recently debuting their own fifth-generation fighters, and are almost certainly happy to have a close-up look at how America sneaks its aircraft past radars. Moreover, China’s already building knockoff versions of American drones, even without the benefit of wreckage sneak peeks. Besides, history shows that, particularly when it comes to China and stealth aircraft, one man’s crash is another man’s treasure. This summer, Pakistan reportedly gave the Chinese a look at the remains of “ Airwolf,” one of the stealth helicopters that crashed during the U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden’s lair in Abbottabad. China’s new J-20 fighter may have benefited from the country’s ability to scoop up parts of the stealth F-117 that was shot down over Yugoslavia in the late 1990s. Of course, if the pictures coming out of China are to be believed, Beijing already has a stealth drone. The RQ-170 would only be so much icing on the cake. |
