Iran Tells U.S. to 'Recount' Drones

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Iran's Revolutionary Guards are telling the United States to "recount" the drones in its fleet as they insist that -- despite U.S. denials -- they captured a small U.S. unmanned spy plane over Gulf waters, Iranian media said Wednesday.

"Its capture is not an issue the Americans can easily refute," Guards spokesman Brigadier General Ramezan Sharif was quoted as saying.

"I advise the American commanders to recount their drones accurately," he said.

The Guards on Tuesday claimed to have recently captured a ScanEagle drone, a low-cost, short-range unmanned aircraft made by Boeing that measures 1.4 meters (4.5 feet) long and with a wingspan of three meters (10 feet).

They said the craft was seized in Iranian airspace but gave no details about how it was captured intact, nor where or when. State television showed images of what it said was the drone: a grey, unmarked vehicle suspended in a hangar.

A spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet based in the Gulf said none of its drones was missing, and a White House spokesman said there is "no evidence" the Iranian claim was true.

A year ago, Iran displayed a bigger and vastly more sophisticated U.S. drone, a bat-winged stealth RQ-170 Sentinel, it said it had captured by hacking its guidance system.

U.S. officials, after initially denying that Sentinel drone had been inside Iran airspace, ended up admitting it had been lost during a CIA mission, but contended it had likely suffered a malfunction that brought it down. US President Barack Obama unsuccessfully asked Iran to return it.

The ScanEagle that Iran says it now possesses is a much cheaper, simpler drone than the RQ-170 Sentinel. It is principally designed to feed back video images over a radio link to operators up to 100 kilometers (60 miles) away.

U.S. and allied forces used ScanEagles in Iraq and Afghanistan, and several other countries operate the drone, including Australia, Canada, Poland and the United Arab Emirates, according to Boeing background information. The drone is also used for civilian purposes such as tracking fish or oil platform observation.

Sharif maintained the Guards' assertion that the drone held by Iran came from a U.S. Navy vessel in the Gulf, but no evidence was given to support that.

Speaking to the Etemad daily, Sharif said the drone was on a reconnaissance mission hovering over Iranian military sites and oil terminals.

"We have extracted data off the drone... it shows what the Americans were looking for," Sharif said.

"The drone was gathering intelligence on military (objectives) as well as the energy sector, particularly oil transitions at terminals," he said without further elaboration.

He said "more information would be released if necessary."

Sharif also insisted "the Americans will sooner or later confirm that their drone has been captured."

Comments 6
Thumb Elemental 05 December 2012, 12:28

Lol, one drone out of thousands, let the baby have his bottle.

Missing sanctify 05 December 2012, 15:49

I don't see why the moderator would delete your post. "theresistance" had his remark regarding my post but that's his right! It was civil as far as I could see. Shame.

Thumb shab 05 December 2012, 13:07

proof ? pictures ?

Thumb arzak-ya-libnan 05 December 2012, 13:14

i am not saying they did get the drone.. or they didnt get the drone.. but i agree with shab.. the first drone they captured they paraded and made a big hullabaloo about.. whens the parade for this one?

Missing sanctify 05 December 2012, 13:17

There are lengthy footages on TV showing the drone which looks quite genuine and identical to the ScanEagle.
However, I can't give too much credit to the Iranians, after all, the US is probably having numerous spy missions over Iran and it's not uncommon to see some malfunctions. Aircraft go down on even routine training missions so such stories sell to those only having little military knowledge (no disrespect intended).

Default-user-icon Murad (Guest) 05 December 2012, 21:03

Yes, of course. Flying objects routinely stay in one piece of malfunctioning and crashing. And also, at certain times of the year, dogs go meow.