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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| American Eyes Over Iran |
| 2005-11-09 |
| November 9, 2005: Iran has been complaining, for over a year, about the many reconnaissance flights American aircraft and UAVs have made over their territory, especially along the Iraqi border. The Iranians have not been able to get much traction with these complaints, but now they are trying a different approach. Iran recently revealed, and displayed, the wreckage of two American UAVs that had come down inside Iran (some 200 kilometers from the Iraqi border.) The United States says nothing, and the story will soon go away. The two downed UAVs were an RQ-7 Shadow 200 (used heavily by the U.S. Army) and a larger (Israeli made) Hermes 450. Actually, the Hermes is also used by Britain, but apparently the United States is willing to accept the blame (by not saying anything.) The UAV flights over Iran are apparently continuing, with the Iranian air defense systems in such a state of disrepair, that the Iranians cannot shoot down the unmanned aircraft. The two UAVs crashed in July and August, apparently as a result of equipment failures. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #7 Out of curiosity ... anybody ever tried to make a transparent UAV? f.e. clear plastic and glass? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-11-09 22:49 |
| #6 The Shadows are 9' wingspan or so, video reconn capability. Usually deployed by the Army as brigade-level assets. Don't know much about the Hermes model mentioned here. |
| Posted by: lotp 2005-11-09 20:44 |
| #5 It had a radio failure after launch, and was last seen headed toward Iran Only one radio? I'd go with triple redundancy at an absolute minimum, with independent power supplies, and different frequencies. It wouldn't hurt to have each "Radio" activate an entirely independent servo suite as well. Hard as hell to incapacitate that setup. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-11-09 20:32 |
| #4 well, they won't be surprised then when the UAV's are switched out to B-2's |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-11-09 20:29 |
| #3 Reminds me of when Castro was supposed to send the Sandy's Migs. The Miami Herald had a story of windows breaking due to sonic booms in Manuagua. The next night my whole house shook as one of the LOUDEST aircraft I've ever heard flew by. To mind my mind it could only have been a SR-71. You want that low altitude pass at sub or supersonic? |
| Posted by: bruce 2005-11-09 18:58 |
| #2 That shadow they were showing off was one we (my unit) lost,I bet. It had a radio failure after launch, and was last seen headed toward Iran. Of course, this was 6 months ago. *giggle* The Shadows are good aircraft, but I wish they were larger. The ability to carry a hellfire or two would have been useful on several occasions. Has anybody seen any photos of this thing? |
| Posted by: N guard 2005-11-09 12:48 |
| #1 Sorry about the airplane noise Muzites, we've been monitoring bird migration fly/no fly zones in support of UN Avian flu threat initiatives. Vitally important stuff you know. Please don't shoot any more of these down, as they may contain H5N1 areosolic precursers, which can be inadvertently released upon uncontrolled impact. The stuff hasn't been linked to goats yet, but why take a chance en shala. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-09 11:12 |