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U.S. Military Sources: Iran Has Missing U.S. Drone
foxnews ^

Posted on 12/05/2011 8:42:02 PM PST by traumer

A U.S. super-secret spy plane believed to be in Iranian possession could be a major loss for the U.S. military -- and a major gain for Iran.

According to a senior U.S. military source with intimate knowledge of the Sentinel drone, the aircraft likely "wandered" into Iranian air space after losing contact with its handlers and is presumed to be intact since it is programmed to fly level and find a place to land, rather than crashing.

"This is a big prize in terms of technology," a senior U.S. military source told Fox News. The spy plane uses the same stealth technology as the drone used to monitor the compound during the raid that killed Usama bin Laden, U.S. military sources told Fox News on Monday. Military sources confirmed that the Iranians have the RQ-170 drone, which is so advanced that the U.S. Air Force has not distributed even a photo of it. However, they did not say that the Iranians shot down the spy plane, as was reported by Iran's official IRNA news agency.

IRNA quoted an unidentified Iranian military official saying Sunday that the spy plane was shot down by Iran's armed forces and suffered minor damage.. The official also warned of strong and crushing response to any violations of the country's airspace by American drone aircraft.

Earlier, the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan issued a statement saying the aircraft may have been a drone that operators lost contact with last week while it was flying a mission over neighboring western Afghanistan. A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the incident, said the U.S. had "absolutely no indication" that the drone was shot down.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


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To: Right Brother

***Perhaps it was supposed to be ‘captured’ intact. Bogus technology can throw off the enemy.***

Trojan eagle?


41 posted on 12/05/2011 9:33:13 PM PST by DonnerT (American Autumn)
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To: maine-iac7
here we have a machine that can drop precision bomb

Uh, no. It is a RECON drone, not set up for bomb dropping. That is the predator.
42 posted on 12/05/2011 9:35:06 PM PST by JSteff ((((It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and HAVE DOOMED us for a generation or more.))))
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To: Right Brother
Perhaps it was supposed to be 'captured' intact. Bogus technology can throw off the enemy.

I thought of the same thing. The Wright Brothers technology.

43 posted on 12/05/2011 9:36:31 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: DonnerT

Earth to DonnerT:

It is not infeasible to have two transmitters on board a drone, a more complex one to handle targeting, etc., a different one to blow a small piece of explosive.


44 posted on 12/05/2011 9:37:12 PM PST by Rembrandt (.. AND the donkey you rode in on.)
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To: Revolting cat!

... running off Microsoft Windows 2.0.


45 posted on 12/05/2011 9:37:35 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: maine-iac7
Maybe just another “gift’ to out enemies from the Traitor in Chief?

He would not be the first president to do that. Clinton gave them MIRV technology, a stealth plane, and who knows how much else.

46 posted on 12/05/2011 9:37:35 PM PST by JSteff ((((It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and HAVE DOOMED us for a generation or more.))))
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To: traumer

This is a political payoff to somebody. A nice way to betray our country. Thank you Barack Hussein Obama. I will personally water the flowers on your memorial, for this wonderful act of “diplomacy”.


47 posted on 12/05/2011 9:37:58 PM PST by runninglips (Republicans = 99 lb weaklings of politics. ProgressiveRepublicansInConservativeCostume)
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To: davisfh
Perhaps it would’ve been more prudent to program it to self-destruct in the event of lost communications.

I'm thinking the same thing. Surely there must be some kind of self-destruct mechanism.

48 posted on 12/05/2011 9:38:21 PM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: traumer
...since it is programmed to fly level and find a place to land, rather than crashing.

Why not just program it to RTB? Dumb. Maybe there is a flashing blue light on top...

49 posted on 12/05/2011 9:39:19 PM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: Rembrandt

Why use a transmitter? It could just be an impact sensor , an accelerometer.


50 posted on 12/05/2011 9:39:58 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Right Brother

*** A ‘tamper’ triggered destruct would not require any communication. That would be most effective.***

If I were an Iranian I would only approach it after it quit smoking from the tank rounds I put into it.


51 posted on 12/05/2011 9:40:31 PM PST by DonnerT (American Autumn)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Remember those days?

There is none of that spine anywhere near DC now. It is close to the Clinton days where our technology is for sale to our enemies.

52 posted on 12/05/2011 9:40:55 PM PST by JSteff ((((It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and HAVE DOOMED us for a generation or more.))))
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To: Mr Ramsbotham
Surely there must be some kind of self-destruct mechanism.

Yeah, like a flask of Absinthe for the pilot!


53 posted on 12/05/2011 9:41:00 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: DonnerT

http://www.industrialdefender.com/general_downloads/incidents/1982.06_trans_siberian_gas_pipeline_explosion.pdf


54 posted on 12/05/2011 9:41:49 PM PST by HereInTheHeartland (I love how the FR spellchecker doesn't recognize the word "Obama")
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To: traumer
Why are these not boobitrapped to blow up if jacked with?
55 posted on 12/05/2011 9:42:18 PM PST by guitarplayer1953 (Grammar & spelling maybe wrong, get over it, the world will not come to an end!)
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To: Revolting cat!

I made the mistake of doing two shots of that once.
I lost four days and nights.


56 posted on 12/05/2011 9:44:19 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Kickass Conservative

Toshiba though was caught, prosecuted, and got fined, and was bared from selling in the U.S. (for a period of time) for its theft of our technology. I believe that was about our submarine propeller silence secrets.


57 posted on 12/05/2011 9:45:53 PM PST by JSteff ((((It was ALL about SCOTUS. Most forget about that and HAVE DOOMED us for a generation or more.))))
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To: DonnerT

Yeah, it oughta have a self-eating mechanism, that could be called something like DonnerPass!


58 posted on 12/05/2011 9:46:25 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Let us prey!)
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To: txroadkill

“That thing could still be sending information home.”

...maybe sending targeting information to a drone on its way to destroy the first drone.


59 posted on 12/05/2011 9:47:00 PM PST by mouske
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To: JSteff

It was.
The French facilitated it.


60 posted on 12/05/2011 9:47:26 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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