Iran has missing US Stealth Drone

[Patranus]

Good for you, that is the most amazing diorama in the entire 5th grade class.

You are an idiot.
The Pentagon CONFIRMED it.

 

[feralkid]

You are an idiot.
The Pentagon CONFIRMED it.

You thought that photo was of the actual drone in question, didn't you?

 

[EagleKeeper]

At the time I made my posts, I had read nothing more about Iran showing off the drone assembly. They had 4 days from the announcement to show footage.

While it may be true, the time delay is suspect

 

[Patranus]

CONFIRMED Obama halted any mission to recover or destroy the drone.

 

[Patranus]

At the time I made my posts, I had read nothing more about Iran showing off the drone assembly. They had 4 days from the announcement to show footage.

While it may be true, the time delay is suspect

The Pentagon confirmed the video is real.

 

[spidey07]

CONFIRMED Obama halted any mission to recover or destroy the drone.

Stupid.

The way it's so intact the current theories (farfetched, but do make some sense) are when lockheed was hacked china got some enough and was able to countermeasure controls to self destruct. Hell, china may have just taken it over and landed it.

 

[Patranus]

Stupid.

The way it's so intact the current theories (farfetched, but do make some sense) are when lockheed was hacked china got some enough and was able to countermeasure controls to self destruct. Hell, china may have just taken it over and landed it.

That is what Iran is claiming.

Its pretty stupid to design this thing to glide back to earth (regardless of the price tag) for this very reason.

 

[Killrose]

maybe they can get a self destruct signal to it now... then blame it on the Chi-comms. oopsie!

 

[irishScott]

CONFIRMED Obama halted any mission to recover or destroy the drone.

Link? The most detailed source I've found is this:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501713_162-57339457/iran-shows-video-of-purported-us-drone/

Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said U.S. military officials and others were studying the imagery but would have no further comment. "We're just not going to talk about these kinds of missions and these kinds of capabilities," Kirby told reporters in Washington.

Tehran appeared to be using the video footage to score propaganda points, and a banner at the foot of the aircraft in the video read "The U.S. cannot do a damn thing" — a quotation from Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini.

Some Western experts questioned whether the aircraft in the video was indeed an RQ-170.

John Pike, an expert on military and intelligence technology for GlobalSecurity.org, said in an email that the drone shown on Iranian TV looked like "a parade float model of a Sentinel" rather than the high-tech robotic surveillance aircraft itself.

He said that the shape of the aircraft differed from that shown in most other photographs of the Sentinel, and that it was in better shape than would be expected after a crash. "I'm guessing this is a mock-up they have prepared for a parade," he said.

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said the Defense Department would not be saying one way or another whether the Iranian images are that of the U.S. drone.

 

[chucky2]

Why would our drone be cream colored?

 

[spidey07]

Why would our drone be cream colored?

Looks like the sand from above.

 

[chucky2]

The countries we're flying these in actually have air assets, and use them, to observe that?

 

[spidey07]

The countries we're flying these in actually have air assets, and use them, to observe that?

Or if it does crash it's doesn't stand out? Sand color is essentially camouflage.

 

[fskimospy]

Stupid.

The way it's so intact the current theories (farfetched, but do make some sense) are when lockheed was hacked china got some enough and was able to countermeasure controls to self destruct. Hell, china may have just taken it over and landed it.

Do you think that maybe Obama took command of the drone himself and landed it so that he could give his Muslim brothers America's technology so that they could defeat us?

If you listen to the words of this president you know he did.

 

[cliftonite]

Such lack of leadership/balls by the Obama administration.
Inexcusable for not pulling the trigger on the planned an air strike to destroy it regardless of how far it was inside of Iran.

Then again, what should we expect from the president who has allowed the Muslim Brotherhood takeover several countries.

Please explain to me what you would have done to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood to take over?

 

[Patranus]

Please explain to me what you would have done to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood to take over?

Not thrown Mubarak under a bus?

 

[airdata]

CONFIRMED Obama halted any mission to recover or destroy the drone.

And?

Last thing we need is to instigate a conflict because we got caught spying on them.

Somebody please tell me what the story would read if Iran flew such a drone into our airspace?

How would we react?

 

[Patranus]

And?

Last thing we need is to instigate a conflict because we got caught spying on them.

Somebody please tell me what the story would read if Iran flew such a drone into our airspace?

How would we react?

With Obama in the White House, they would probably throw a parade.

 

[yllus]

Such lack of leadership/balls by the Obama administration.
Inexcusable for not pulling the trigger on the planned an air strike to destroy it regardless of how far it was inside of Iran.

Then again, what should we expect from the president who has allowed the Muslim Brotherhood takeover several countries.

Yeah, I can see how you'd think launching a fucking airstrike on a hostile nation's soil is the way to fix the problem. Are you actually mentally retarded?

 

[hal2kilo]

Yeah, I can see how you'd think launching a fucking airstrike on a hostile nation's soil is the way to fix the problem. Are you actually mentally retarded?

If he had a sack where his mouth is he should be over there now on a suicide mission.

 

[Texashiker]

Here is my theory on the drone:

China went to iran and talked to the government of iran about highjacking a US drone.

Back in October wired ran an article about a virus that was infecting drones.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/drone-virus-nuisance/

China supplied the technology for Iran to take control of a drone, safely land it, and then deliver the drone to china.

The test runs have been building up over the past few months, the malware infection shows show thing has been in the works for awhile now.

Here is the kicker, lets say for a second this theory is correct, Iran would have wanted something from China for a drone that has stealth technology.

Iran is under an embargo. With the embargo, iran has no hopes of reverse engineering and then building their own stealth technology, but china has everything that is needed.

 

[Aikouka]

Locating a safe crash site would not be or a primary interest; the destruction of the bird would be.

I'm not denying that there may be a desire to include a self-destruct mechanism on the drone, but rather that I doubt its main self-destruct mechanism is performing a "dive bomb maneuver." The safety concerns over how exactly to enact something like that would be a nightmare. If anything, I assume they would force it to blow up in the sky, and maybe take out some random bird (the animal, not ABT ). The only thing I would wonder about that is how they would do that... do these drones have small explosive charges on them? It might also be possible to simple have a small charge at the fuel tank, but then you've got a Pinto with wings. :biggrin:

Oh well, it's really all conjecture since I don't think any of us know the design specifications behind these.

EDIT:

Back in October wired ran an article about a virus that was infecting drones.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/10/drone-virus-nuisance/

Wasn't that virus on the ground computers (that control the drones) and not the drones themselves? I would assume the virus would be a non-issue at this point unless the machine controlling this specific drone was still infected and somehow providing an accessible external interface.

I would assume that control of a drone isn't as simple as having the right technology to talk to it, but you have to establish a connection that most likely involves some sort of authentication.

 

[Balt]

Ugh, this is not good. That drone looks to be in very good shape, and you can bet your ass that even if Iran can't steal tech from it a couple of their supporters on the UN Security Council will be able to...

 

[feralkid]

Ugh, this is not good. That drone looks to be in very good shape, and you can bet your ass that even if Iran can't steal tech from it a couple of their supporters on the UN Security Council will be able to...

It's fake.

 

[Darwin333]

Ugh, this is not good. That drone looks to be in very good shape, and you can bet your ass that even if Iran can't steal tech from it a couple of their supporters on the UN Security Council will be able to...

I don't necessarily think that the drone being intact is the biggest issue it is the very advanced electronics payload that it carries being intact. I am sure that China and Russia have enough pics of current stealth planes to understand the "shape" and I would bet that either through espionage or their own engineers they have developed "radar absorbing paint". The advanced electronics, such as the radar that is supposedly similar to what the F-22 carries, is another thing altogether.

On one hand, I can understand the people that say we should have a self destruct device, even a small one to destroy the sensitive electronics. On the other hand, I can also see how "Murphy" could pop up at the worst possible time if they did.