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| Iraq |
| US shoots down Iranian drone over Iraq |
| 2009-03-16 |
| The U.S. military in Baghdad confirmed Monday that an American fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone over Iraq last month. The drone was first detected flying into Iraqi airspace Feb. 25, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, the military said. Once pilots confirmed the drone did not belong to Coalition Forces, the pilots were directed to shoot it down. The drone was tracked in Iraqi airspace for more than an hour before the decision was made, the military said. Does the pilot get to paint a little, tiny Iranian flag on his fighter? An Iraqi official said the Iranian aircraft went down near the Iraqi border town of Mandali. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. |
| Posted by:Frozen Al |
| #7 I agree with Valentine. A lot of times it just isn't worth the effort or cost to shoot one down as it flies over desert or non-US vital areas. Sounds like it got close to a US base and they took it out. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2009-03-16 21:13 |
| #6 There appears to be some C2 problems there Not really, depends on where the drone was and what it was doing, hell they could have been tracking it while it was still INSIDE Iranian borders and just watching to see if it would crossover and if it came into contact with anything worth monitoring. Its kinda pointless to shootdown a drone that flies over desert (doesn't do any sigint/elint work) and then flies back over desert taking nothing but photos of.....sand... ;) |
| Posted by: Valentine 2009-03-16 16:47 |
| #5 Iran shrugs. Surfs over to eBay to start shopping for a new air force. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2009-03-16 15:58 |
| #4 The drone was tracked in Iraqi airspace for more than an hour before the decision was made, There appears to be some C2 problems there. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-03-16 15:54 |
| #3 The Ship's "Sign Shop will fix one up quickly. (All major ships have a sign shop, unless you went aboard you'd never realize just how many sign are on, in and around onboard ships) If you ever get a chance to visit any Navy vessel count the signs, you'll stop quickly, they seem endless. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-03-16 15:08 |
| #2 On second thought, have a distinctly different aircraft silhouette to stencil on the side. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-03-16 15:01 |
| #1 That's the same as an enemy aircraft, paint a half flag per shootdown (No pilot) |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2009-03-16 14:14 |