“Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.” ~ General George S. Patton
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Posted on 05/14/2014 7:56:57 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Iranian Copy of U.S. Unmanned Stealth Aircraft is a Fake By: Dave Majumdar Published: May 12, 2014 4:37 PM Updated: May 12, 2014 5:37 PM
So-called Iranian version of the RQ-170. Iran claims it was able to reverse engineer the stealthy unmanned aerial vehicle. FARS News Service Photo
Iran’s purported reverse-engineered copies of the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aircraft are nothing but cheap mockups, industry sources told USNI News.
The Iranian state-owned Fars News Agency reported that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) showed off a modified version of the stealthy RQ-170 at an aerospace exhibition in Tehran on Sunday.
However, unlike the original U.S. version of the aircraft, the Iranians claim their version of the Sentinel is armed—and designed to engage U.S. Navy warships at sea. Sources with knowledge of the RQ-170 design dismissed the Iranian copy as a crude mockup.
“It seems their fiberglass work has improved a lot. It also seems that if it were a functional copy, versus a detailed replica, it wouldn’t necessarily have the exact same landing gear, tires, etc,” said one source with familiar with the RQ-170. “They would probably just use whatever extra F-5 parts or general aviation parts they had lying around.”
The Iranians based their mockup on an RQ-170 that had crashed inside that country on Dec. 4, 2011, during a Central Intelligence Agency intelligence-gathering mission. Shortly after the crash, U.S. President Barack Obama asked the Iranians to return the stricken aircraft. “We’ve asked for it back. We’ll see how the Iranians respond,” Obama said at the time.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.usni.org ...
Looks like the so called “Golden Age” of the Persian Empire is returning. //sarc off//
Awwah! I wanted to see it Fly!
“Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.” ~ General George S. Patton
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Caused a lot of ROTFLMAOs in Tehran.
What I`d be concerned with is did they transfer it or critical parts to the Russians or Chinese?
Fiberglass has a smaller radar signature than metal, doesn’t it? This might be just the thing ....
The pix I saw of the drone featured a window on the front of the aircraft.
I guess they have a team of midgets training to fly this critter.
Probably fly about as well as that mini-sub that sank not long ago.
I was just thinking about this incident the other day. This is another scandal - IT WAS A GIFT! First, it didn’t “crash” - it was fully intact.
Why wasn’t there an investigation on how this happened? Military equipment usually has safeguards. It was handed to them on a plate - treason.
And he indicated that if it was not returned he would use his powerful red line weapon.
That caused a massive outbreak of people doubled over with fits of laughter that was so bad that some were sent to the hospital with severe stomach pain.
mac daddy the ba**est at his girly best.
It would be great to see video of the janitor coming in and picking it up so he can sweep under it. :)
#bringbackourdrone
Wow, just think of the response he would have gotten back then if Michelle O. had posted a placard-picture of herself with the hashtag: #ReturnOurStealthAircraft
Still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Iranian Copy of U.S. Unmanned Stealth Aircraft is a Fake-—so is our president.
Hash tag to follow.........
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