Iranian drone plane buzzes U.S. aircraft carrier in Persian Gulf

rian ^ | 5/30/06 | na

[Flavius]

TEHRAN, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - A pilotless Iranian reconnaissance plane circled for 25 minutes over a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf before returning safely to its base, a senior Iranian official said Tuesday.

"Our pilotless reconnaissance plane flew over the USS Ronald Reagan in the Persian Gulf unnoticed to the Americans for 25 minutes," the official said, according to Iran's Fars agency.

He did not say when the flight took place, but added that U.S. radars picked up the unmanned aerial vehicle after 25 minutes, and that four USAF fighters and two helicopters were scrambled to intercept it. However, the Iranian plane had already crossed the border back into Iran and landed at its base.

"This points to holes in the U.S. military reconnaissance systems deployed in the Persian Gulf," the Iranian official said.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

What I find amusing is all the chest beating and saber rattling that Iran is doing. It's a psychological war they are trying to wage with us. I can't believe that every time their military manages to get to the latrine successfully they consider themselves militarily superior to the U.S. I'm not buying it a bit.

[GreenAccord]

Ahem. Mr. Moderator...

Apparently this story is a bit suspicious, per a prior edited thread?

[mkjessup]

[CholeraJoe]

We defeated the Iraqi Army in less than 96 hours.

TWICE!

[finnigan2]

"Why am I not believing this?"

- Well, I for one am not believing this because a "pilotless drone" takes a hell of a lot more technology to produce than Iran possesses. For starters, drones are guided from the ground by technicians who rely on military satellite GPS technology to steer the craft. For starters, Iran doesn't have any such satellites so once it was beyond visual range, the drone would wander off course.
Secondly, to get close to the USS Ronald Reagan a drone would have to employ stealth technology in it's design. Again, Iran doesn't have the slightest idea where to even start to produce such a craft.
If there's even a grain of truth to this story, Iran would have to have built a radio controlled drone and programmed it to fly a predetermined course, out and back. Any similarity between this flight path and the location of the USS Ronald Reagan would be purely coincidental.

[newcthem]

What the Navy needs is a quick-n-dirty response to this sort of thing. Once a drone like this has been detected (and it certainly was detected), it should be dispatched with a visually aimed heat-seeking MANPADS from one of the outlying ships or some such thing. That way we don't give away information, but we still assert our position.

Or having our boys follow the drone back to it's base and bomb it back to the stone ages. Seems like a reasonable response.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Maybe it was a magic carpet over the carrier...

[wolfcreek]

It's amazing to me how some on this board don't realize what enough money can buy. Iran has the money and there are plenty of sellers.

[Al Gator]

1975, USS Hancock was a transpac-in. Stopped in Hawaii, loaded up a couple of Marine helo squads. Flight deck was filled with choppers. Couldn't launch a fly if we wanted to.

3 maybe 4 time on the way to PI, Russian Bears came down to take a look. Flew circles and took pictures for a good 45 minutes each. So close we could wave, shoot the bird, shoot the moon at each other. Ruskies laughed and flew away.

Point is, recon flights are common. Unless you want to start something, you let them be. Just don't fire up any of your equipment, and they go away empty handed.

But you better believe the Reagan knew when that sucker took off, where it took off from, eta and etd of the whole "secret" Iranian mission.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group Concludes Operations in Persian Gulf(May 29th)

[null and void]

*groan*

[usmcobra]

It was ignored for twenty minutes, then chased off.

Next time it won't be so lucky.

[null and void]

For starters, Iran doesn't have any such satellites

OTOH they do have GPS receivers. I'm given to understand that the Tehran Radio Sheik® has them in stock.

Again, Iran doesn't have the slightest idea where to even start to produce such a craft.

There's stealth, and then there's stealth. A slow 6 ft wing span drone doesn't need the same level of stealth technology as a B1-B to have a small radar signal.

For starters, drones are guided from the ground

Ours are. Nothing says theirs need to be. A modified commercial aircraft has a wide visual range. (And for extra bonus points, given what the Vincences did, we are very reluctant to shoot at anything that looks like a commercial aircraft in that area).

[river rat]

"This points to holes in the U.S. military reconnaissance systems deployed in the Persian Gulf,"....

Before the "War on Terror" can be taken seriously -- America will have to demonstrate what "holes" look like that once were cities.....

Militant Islam has been permitted to use THEIR weapons of choice ---- lunatics, while we have not delievered the level of destruction necessary to convince their population and "leaders" that was against us is suicidal...

Until we are ready to make war, real war --- this is all a stupid sham that will wear down the nation's will and determination to WIN....

Semper Fi

[IrishRainy]

So THAT'S where Baghdad Bob disappeared to...

[DK Zimmerman]

Hummm, p'raps you're unaware that the Israelis developed the first practical "UAVs" during the 73 war? (When exactly did GPS go up?) True, they were little better that a closed circuit camera on a model airplane, but they were responsive to the local commander and showed him what was over the next ridge with minimal risk.

The US military proceeded to spend about a billion dollars and fifteen years or so proving what the Israelis had accomplished was impossible (Aquila et al).

Without more details or a US response, frankly, it is impossible to tell how much of this report is fiction and how much is fact.

[GOPJ]

Does this ship not have a Phalanx system or did they not want to waste the ammo on balsa wood drones?

They probably realized it was a kid's toy - and ignored it.

[GOPJ]

It's amazing to me how some on this board don't realize what enough money can buy. Iran has the money and there are plenty of sellers.

Is that what Iran's up to in Germany?

[finnigan2]

"True, they were little better that a closed circuit camera on a model airplane,"

- You are right. These short range "look over the next hill" craft are little more than line of sight radio controlled camera carriers. However, when you launch a drone over the horizon where the only ground reference for an on board camera is miles and miles of featureless ocean, you need a sophisticated GPS based guidance system.