Top secret US spy drone captured by Iran

RomanNose · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:39

Anyone else here really tempted to make a drone after this? You can make one for about £300 with some basic electronics.

Mr Krugga · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:40

arknor said:
why do you assume it was in iranian airspace? it was probably near the border but in afghanistan airspace you know that country america has been actie in for nearly 10 years now

Why would I assume otherwise?

It's not the first drone aircraft that went down in that area.

Or if it is, why did it not happen in the past 10 years and is happening now when the West is pressuring Iran over their nuclear programme?

Sime · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:40

To be fair it was probably spying on Iran though

trigger-happy · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:41

Iran has advanced radar technology so it was easy for them to take down that drone. Secondly only four of them were ever made. Iran expects to reverse engineer this and also expect to replicate one of these next year.

Frenzy · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:42

I am surprised at a lack of self destruct option. Something that would detect altitude and location and detonate if safe to do so otherwise travel to an empty location and then detonate. 6 million dollars could achieve that I'm sure. OR maybe american military are too far up themselves to think of such situations...

Mr Krugga · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:43

Frenzy said:
I am surprised at a lack of self destruct option. Something that would detect altitude and location and detonate if safe to do so otherwise travel to an empty location and then detonate. 6 million dollars could achieve that I'm sure.

I wonder what the cost of developing that aircraft was. Probably 10-20 times as much.

WingZero30 · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:43

Sime said:
To be fair it was probably spying on Iran though

You are right

http://www.minnpost.com/worldcsm/20...to_destroy_rq-170_sentinel_drone_lost_in_iran

US officials told the Associated Press that the RQ-170 drone that crashed inside Iran over the weekend was one of a fleet of stealth aircraft that have spied on Iran for years from a US air base in Afghanistan.

TaKeN · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:43

America will not be happy

Sime · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:44

WingZero30 said:
You are right

http://www.minnpost.com/worldcsm/20...to_destroy_rq-170_sentinel_drone_lost_in_iran

Ahh well there you go!

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:44

Supposedly this system was used:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/12/avtobaza-irans-weapon-in-rq-17.html

[TW]Fox · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:45

Mr Krugga said:
Or if it is, why did it not happen in the past 10 years and is happening now when the West is pressuring Iran over their nuclear programme?

They've lost several in the past.

The West has been pressuring Iran over the nuclear programme for several decades.

There is nothing new in the current circumstances nor the current event.

trigger-happy · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:46

Frenzy said:
I am surprised at a lack of self destruct option. Something that would detect altitude and location and detonate if safe to do so otherwise travel to an empty location and then detonate. 6 million dollars could achieve that I'm sure.

it was a communications relay drone and it was unarmed, my guess is that they some how jammed the communication to the drone causing it to crash? judging from those pictures there was no serious damage was done. I think most of the funding went into the material work and the design.

robmol · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:47

RomanNose said:
Anyone else here really tempted to make a drone after this? You can make one for about £300 with some basic electronics.

I might accidently crash it in my neighbours garden and not be able to get it back!

WingZero30 · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:49

CAT-THE-FIFTH said:
Supposedly this system was used:

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/2011/12/avtobaza-irans-weapon-in-rq-17.html

We should have had such weapons in Battlefield 3 aswell

Atleast that way we can 'manipulate' the data on enemy jet or helis missiles causing them to go haywire

Mr Krugga · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:50

[TW]Fox;20751438 said:
They've lost several in the past.

The West has been pressuring Iran over the nuclear programme for several decades.

There is nothing new in the current circumstances nor the current event.

Yes, of course, I meant to say "or if it was, (...)".

There have not been as intense pressure on Iran for the development of their nuclear programme for years now, though.

It's progressive, therefore the reactions of the western governments will only get stronger over time.

[TW]Fox · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:52

Mr Krugga said:
There have not been as intense pressure on Iran for the development of their nuclear programme for years now, though.

Yes there has. Why do you think, for example, that the entire IranAir fleet is made up of increasingly ageing old first gen 747's and Airbus A300's for example? Not because they cant afford new ones thats for sure - it's because Iran have been under tight sanctions for years and years!

trigger-happy · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:54

[TW]Fox;20751491 said:
Yes there has. Why do you think, for example, that the entire IranAir fleet is made up of increasingly ageing old first gen 747's and Airbus A300's for example? Not because they cant afford new ones thats for sure - it's because Iran have been under tight sanctions for years and years!

those sanctions actually causes them to make their own technology, they made their own missiles which is the same quality of a hawk missile. Most of the scientists there are pretty intelligent.

Edrof · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:56

Good work, ThundyC.

[TW]Fox · 8 Dec 2011 at 17:56

I was responding to the asertation that there hasn't really been pressure over nuclear activity for ages, not exmaining the effectiveness of sanctions.

On the subject of Iran, this is interesting:

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...kvXPBA&usg=AFQjCNExVgZooTUeZkOoZWvPZx1RwJeMiA

trigger-happy · 8 Dec 2011 at 18:00

Edit: NVM