Posted on 09/13/2004 4:20:30 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
Members of Shura Council of Mujahedeen show US army’s remote-controlled drone that they shot down in Fallujah, Iraq, on Sunday. (AP Photo)
US military has reported no such loss near the embattled Iraqi city.
“In proud Fallujah, thanks be to God, a spying American plane was shot down,'' said a statement signed by the Tawhid and Jihad group and posted on the Internet on Monday. The message's authenticity could not be confirmed, but it appeared on a Website known for carrying statements by Islamic militant groups.
Tawhid and Jihad is linked to the al-Qaeda terror network and led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It claimed responsibility for the series of attacks on US and Iraqi government targets on Sunday, one of the heaviest days of fighting in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein last year.
On Sunday, a previously unknown group, the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen (holy warriors) in Iraq, claimed to have shot down a US. Marine drone near Fallujah in a video tape broadcast on Al-Arabiya satellite television.
Neither claim said when the drone was downed.
The US military has not reported the loss of any drone in Iraq in recent days. But Associated Press Television News filmed people dancing in Fallujah's streets on Sunday, holding what appeared to be pieces of an aircraft bearing the word “Marines.''
The US military did not provide any information.
In its Monday statement, Tawhid and Jihad boasted that it fired about 400 rockets at 50 targets on Sunday, when at least 60 people died in Iraq – 37 in Baghdad alone.
Some of the casualties were inflicted when a US helicopter fired on a crowd cheering around a disabled US armoured vehicle in Baghdad.
“For the first time, there was no failure in the firing or targeting of any rocket, which is a precedent, thanks be only to God,'' the message said.
The statement hailed Sunday's offensive as a “blessed battle'' that “humiliated the infidels.'' It took responsibility for attacks in Fallujah and Ramadi, two cities west of Baghdad.
Tawhid and Jihad, which means monotheism and holy war, has been at the forefront of the opposition to the U.S.-led forces in Iraq and has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and beheading of several foreigners.
US authorities consider its leader, al-Zarqawi, to be an ally of al-Qaida commander Osama bin Laden but say he runs his own terrorist operation.
Man, that's a lucky shot. Remember how the serbs shot down one of our stealth fighters?
At the time I remarked that they must have shot down our invisible plane with invisible bullets.
Cox Aircraft Manufacturing
Marines fly the Pioneer UAV, which has no wing rake
They have also deployed a couple of test units of the ScanEagle, though the wing rake doesn't look to be enough and the captured one doesn't look to have long enough wings, though that's hard to judge
It sure isn't the Dragon Eye
this one the angle is about right, but the "downed" one has a much narrower (front to back - the "cord?") wing:
So I can't find any credible reference to a Marine UAV that this might be.
Looking at the picture:
Isn't the circled star 
the logo for Navy air, not Marine (notice the "MARINE" on the right wing)?
I think this is a big honking RC model. It might even be something they were / are planning on putting some IED on and it crashed on them, so they figured they'd get some propaganda pics out of it.
I've built model airplanes bigger than that. What a bunch of losers.
They shoot them, we build them. We could do this for an eternity. The terrorists? Only until the next 5.56 pierce their thick, empty heads.
"I wonder if such drones could be packed with explosives to remotely trigger them, when confronted by a crowd of 'slammies. It would then create a 'slammie soup the sane world can revel, and also give clues on terrorist-concentrated areas."
That, would be a great idea. :)
Two words..."Homing Beacon.." can you say "BOOM "!
"The picture looks authentic though."
Take another look. The back side of this plane is very well rounded like it was made that way, but the difference in lenghth from the back of the wing on the left and the back of the wing on the right is anything but symmetrical The right side is way far longer than the left.
Also, there is a black mark on the right side that looks like where the wing would be attached to the main fuselage, but there is no mark like this on the left.
Add to this, the left has an elevator, the right does not and neither wing has an alleron (sp).
One other thing. There is no indication that it was shot down.
If this plane was sent into the air, it would probably crash, although it might fly in circles to the left for quite a while first.
right. I never understand why we don't use our own IED's.
we can remote detonate ,too. leave a copy of Playgirl and
the little freaks will come to look-kablooey!
Starship Troopers. My favorite passage...
As was the entire war with the skinnies. *sigh*
Wow- we need to pack those little suckers with remotely-controlled explosives and wait for them to be shot down-
Then, as the crowd gathers to ululate-
Ka-BOOM.
They missed the boat big time. The "Skinnies war" should have been the first movie, and the bugs a sequel.
Star Ship Troopers II is super lame. It's one of those lets film it in the dark flicks.
A total waste of time. Can't expect much else from Hollyweird I guess.
Lets wait 12 hours when they move it to their HQ and Kaboom with 10 2000 pounds bombs to level the area!!
I'd say use a B-52 and "carpet bomb" the whole damm area!
LOL!! you guys crack me up!!
I count that in the list of top car chases in the movies, that was one bad ass little RC Corvette :-)
Come on. You don't think they are building these things and exhibiting them for propaganda purposes. It is the remains of a USMC Scan Eagle. The markings are genuine and authentic. The same goes for the US Army Raven UAV that fell into the hands of the Madhi Army.
U.S. Marines, who are responsible for security in the Fallujah area, confirmed the report.
"An unmanned aerial vehicle crashed in the vicinity of Fallujah earlier today. The loss of this UAV will not have a significant effect upon" military operations, said Marine spokesman Lt. Col. T. V. Johnson.
It's a UAV. We'll make more.
No. Nothing to do with an ALCM. The US confirmed the loss of the UAV over Fallujah.
The star and bar is standard insignia for all U.S. military aircraft.
As some of the other posters have mentioned, the "capture" of a downed UAV is not that big a deal. Posing with a photograph of it may make these idiots feel like men, but all it does is provide information to our intelligence agencies.
So I don't find it far-fetched that this is what it appears to be, and of all the UAV photos I've seen it looks most like the ScanEagle, which as you mentioned is being used by the Marines.
And yes, UAV's have GPS technology aboard which means, if still transmitting, somebody knows exactly where that UAV is.
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