Iranian downing of US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft

[MrMalachiCrunch]

I’ve been following this story for a bit but just came across this on the BBC.  I had hoped it was severely damaged, but it looks like the Iranians took control of it and landed it safely in Iran and are now showing it off.  I wonder how Iran managed to do this?  I smell the hand of another country in this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16103467

A heck of a job security argument for real fly boys……

[Gargantua]

OWNED!

[molinar13]

1. These thing should have some sort of self-destruct sequence in the event of capture.
2. Scan EVERYONE who was involved in this drone operation. How do we not know that someone purposefully gave the Iranians the drone on a silver platter? Its not out of the question in my opinion.
3. If in fact the Iranians managed to bring it down on their own or with the help of another country then we Americans got what we deserved, a wake up call!

[ABWorsham4]

Russian and Chinese will be happy to buy this off the Iranians.

[MrMalachiCrunch]

One can only hope this is an example of a typical military procurement cycle taking years and by the time the unit is in the field the technology is 5-6 years old.  In the electronics Moores law would say that is 3-4 generations from bleeding edge not yet fielded kit.

[Gargantua]

Imagine if it was an Iranian spy drone over America.

You would be at WAR!

LOLOLOL.

[MrMalachiCrunch]

Reminds me of the Gary Powers and the U2 over Russia….

[ABWorsham4]

Can’t with to see my Brother-In-Law at Christmas. He is an officer in the USAF and has controled a few drones over the mountains in Afghanistan. I have to ask him some questions. As always there is little he can tell me.

[special forces]

Funny how that drone looks like it is a flat burka :D

[Guerrilla Guy]

I want one. I want 3 in fact. The first thought that came to my mind: “That things look a bit like UFO’s… wait a minute!”  :wink:

GG

[MrMalachiCrunch]

I came across more information on this incident.  I am somewhat skeptical of the Iranian version and getting more so.  The article authors certainly are not biased towards Iran.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/1215/Exclusive-Iran-hijacked-US-drone-says-Iranian-engineer

On the other hand I noticed slight damage section on the top of the plane in pictures I’ve seen.  Moreover, it seems interesting about the placement of the flags which hide the undercarriage.  Perhaps they did not land it on a nice runway but a rough field.  As an IT type I find this rather interesting.

It does highlight the problem of relying too much on one form of technology in any system.  This was also an interesting story on the pearls of software in combat systems.

http://www.govexec.com/features/0407-01/0407-01na3.htm

[MrMalachiCrunch]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.  Occam’s razor would suggest the simplest versions of truth are the most likely to be true.  This article is a counter claim to the Christian Science Monitors article about the GPS system being spoofed and the drone being owned.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/12/21/spy_drone_hijack_gps_spoofing_implausible/

For those with an interest in information technology in particular and other fascinating technology/science stories will really enjoy this site, it’s been part of my daily read for a decade at least.  The British humour/vernacular is an added bonus.

http://www.theregister.co.uk