An American reconnaissance drone from Afghanistan was identified by the Iranian radar network before entering the country's airspace. This is what is learned from the main media in Tehran.
According to the military report given to the state media, the drone was identified by the air defense line operated by the Khatam ol-Anbia base. After a single warning - reads the note - the drone changed course and returned to its base in Kandahar.
The Iranians claim to have detected the drone, not specifying the model, at 32 kilometers from the border. It is still unclear how the Iranians managed to warn the Americans. The Pentagon does not confirm the episode.
Iranian media reports that Tehran, over the years, has cut down dozens of US drones and reproduced them after a trial of reverse engineering. It is practically impossible to confirm these claims, but in the 2011 Iran claimed to have shot down and subsequently decoded an RQ-170 drone Sentinel (v.articolo).
Finally, Tehran claims to have also shot down a drone ScanEagle (opening photo) and put into production its own version. The ScanEagle is a low-cost UAV manufactured by a subsidiary of Boeing. It weighs twenty kilograms, has a wingspan of 3,1 meters and can remain in flight for over 24 hours.
In May of 2014, Iranian state television showed images of a replica of the US drone RQ-170 Sentinel, which would have been captured in the 2011. Iran claims to have taken possession and managed to decode the secrets of the Sentinel, shot down in December of the same year after entering Iranian airspace from the eastern border with Afghanistan. The United States initially declared that it had lost a drone near the Afghan border, to then confirm the killing of the Sentinel, during an espionage mission over an Iranian nuclear plant. Its sensors would be able to detect very small amounts of radioactive isotopes and chemicals.
According to the Pentagon, Iran would not have been able to unravel the technology of the Sentinel, due to the security protocols included in the drones operating in hostile territory. According to the Iranian press, in December of the 2012 Tehran would have captured at least three unmanned aircraft ScanEagle. The only confirmed loss is that of one ScanEagle Canadian, lost in the Arabian Sea in the 2012.
The speech for the is different Sentinel, flying wing used by the Central Intelligence Agency. In September of the 2013, Tehran said it had completed the reengineering process of the Sentinel, announcing the sale to third parties (leading Russia) of the acquired technology.
Iran has acquired considerable experience in the field of re-engineering, much of which was provided by the US in the period in which relations between Tehran and Washington were excellent. Since then, Iran has been able to buy spare parts for most of its American hardware and has had to resort to re-engineering to keep it running.
(photo: US DoD / General Atomics / IRNA - In the second image a Gray Eagle American, in the third a new Iranian UAV unveiled in May)
