U.S. Says Drone Crashed, Refuting Iran's Claim

WSJ ^ | Dec. 16, 2011 | SIOBHAN GORMAN AND ADAM ENTOUS

[indpndtguy]

WASHINGTON—U.S. officials believe the downed spy drone on display in Iran crashed and broke into several pieces, and the Iranians reassembled it to make it appear as though it landed intact.

Officials also believe the Iranians repainted the drone, perhaps to conceal damage done to the body of the plane. In an Iranian video, the drone appears to be white, whereas the actual one is charcoal gray, they said.

Iranian officials last week showed video footage of what they said was the downed drone, the RQ-170 Sentinel. They have variously claimed that they shot it down or remotely skyjacked it before landing the craft in one piece.

The stealth drone was developed for the Air Force, but was flying under the authority of the Central Intelligence Agency when its remote pilots lost control of it late last week, said several U.S. officials.

With one of the most-sophisticated U.S. spy planes now in Iranian hands, U.S. officials continue work to assess how much U.S. intelligence capability may have been compromised. Iran's ability to reassemble the drone and put it on display has prompted U.S. lawmakers to ask why the unmanned drone lacked a feature that caused it to self-destruct if it malfunctioned, a congressional official said.

U.S. officials familiar with the American assessment of the incident forcefully dispute Tehran's assertion and say the pilot lost control of the craft. "They did not commandeer it and steer it to the ground," said an Obama administration official. "It crashed, and they put it back together to make it look whole, like a puzzle being put back together."

[Dallas59]

IMHO...It was test to find out what the RH’s would do with it.

[moviefan8]

It matters a lot, if Iran actually has the power to commandeer drones, and land them intact (or otherwise).

Everything has to be changed on our side. The US has to take everything into account now and make sure everything is secure.

[hinckley buzzard]

Either way, it was dereliction of duty to allow it to fall into enemy hands without destroying it first.

This is a phoney issue designed to deflect attention from the above serious national security breach by the obama regime.

[Kickass Conservative]

I'm Earl Hussein Osama.

I'll paint any Drone, any color, for $29.95.

[sten]

because THESE words help effect attention away from the fact that 0traitor refused to allow the military to destroy the top secret survielliance drone in any of the THREE methods available.

the reports do elighten us to the fact that it went down in a VERY remote area.

the ‘reasons’ not to destroy the drone get weaker and weaker

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Cause he is a lawlerly pinhead....smart...but DUMB.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

” I’m impressed with the Iranians ability to put it back together that quickly and that well.”

Hot Glue and Duct Tape can put anything back together!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks.

See # 9.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

But they must not have any Grey paint.

[ColdSteelTalon]

Its all part of a secret technology transfer to China...

[biggredd1]

It crashed, it was in pieces and the choices were...send in Seals to retrieve...destroy it from airstrike...leave it alone and go play golf.

[lacrew]

I am curious why the Iranians did not show the bottom half of the craft.

[null and void]

They lie even when they don’t need to.

Heck, they lie even when the truth would serve them better.

[Fresh Wind]

The problem still remains. Iran has it.

And the Vacationer In Chief of the United States looks either like an indecisive wimp or a traitor. Take your pick.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest and indpndtguy.

[SpaceBar]

There was a time when we could believe our government...

You have to go back to about 1959 to get to a time where the government could be somewhat trusted on what they say. Then in the nineties, starting with the first Bush, it started to get really bad, and has been going rapidly downhill ever since, with each successive administration getting more brazen. Now with Zero and his henchmen in office, it's nothing more than an in-your-face crime syndicate with carefully crafted "statements" released through the Ministry of Propaganda.

[pterional]

The US Government can't get its story straight about how they killed Osama Bin Laden.
If Iran didn't know the drone was there and it went down in a uninhabited area Iran wouldn't have found it in the first place. The Iranians probably hacked it with the help of the Chinese and the Russians. Now the entire fleet of US spy and attack drones are vulnerable and been compromised by Obama. It would be devastating to have our own predator drones taken over and used to attack US troops.

[moviefan8]

Even if it crashed I would have blown it up no matter how remote it was. After that I would have go through existing procedures and change them.

I admit it is easy to be a keyboard commander and hindsight is 20/20.

By saying it crashed it still says that Obama did nothing to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. He still comes out looking bad at least in my eyes.

I think we here are all pretty much have the same opinion on this issue. It is just convincing other people who are not as informed or lack critical thinking skills.

[Roccus]

Then in the nineties, starting with the first Bush, it started to get really bad....

Short memory there, Spacey. Do "Missile Gap" and Credibility Gap" ring a bell?

[SpaceBar]

I could have gone back to the Gary Powers incident, but didn’t want to tax our younger freepers.