Posted on 04/28/2010 4:49:30 PM PDT by boughtwithaprice
An Iranian navy plane that approached a U.S. aircraft carrier last week was flying as low as 300 feet as it neared the USS Eisenhower, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.
The incident, first reported by CNN on Tuesday, came as Iran was beginning a series of military exercises last week meant to show off their military prowess.
The Eisenhower was on duty in the Gulf of Oman in the northern Arabian Sea, in support of the Afghanistan war efforts, when the Iranian maritime patrol aircraft flew within 1,000 yards of the vessel, according to military officials.
While the encounter was not threatening, it was unusual. U.S. navy ships have regularly encountered Iranian aircraft in the Persian Gulf in recent years, but this encounter took place in the Gulf of Oman, in an area where Iranian jets are seen much less frequently, several Navy officials said.
The officials declined to be identified, citing the extremely sensitive nature of any U.S. military interaction with Iranian forces.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Fox reported this as a UAV...
maritime patrol aircraft
Not yet, waiting for advice from the UN.
I looked at the first five links given at the page you referenced. At BEST, these were all ENEMY CLAIMS that they had a TINY DRONE overflying one of our ships.
I haven't spent ANY time at sea, let alone on a carrier, but certainly, if you have, you could provide better information than this.
ML/NJ
During the cold war, huge Soviet Bear or Bison Bombers greeted every carrier on entry to the Med. Of course, there were always a couple of USN fighters in close trail.
It is called freedom of navigation. Absent hostile intent, like fire control emissions, open bomb bay doors there is nothing to be done.
Obama.
Congress.
Democrats.
Half the voting population.
America -- a great idea, didn't last.
Some years ago being on a military assignment to an Embassy in Africa..a local lady and I were watching a video..of..Zulu Dawn..she was cheering for the Zulus..we were in East Africa.
She is a Muslim and Somali. She cheered for the Turks in Lawrence of Arabia.
There is no doubt Obama has deep rooted prejudices..we are seeing them come into play..
I am thinking exactly as you are. That plane could have destroyed the bridge and then sunk the ship before we could have responded. Is this what Zero is looking for?
What in the hell was the CWO thinking?
This seems odd to me. I thought that 5 km from the center of the flight deck was “owned” by the carrier and was internationally recognized as restricted airspace.
Ah, somebody tell me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the Navy have a distance protocol to a capital ship, like an aircraft carrier? Wasn’t the Iranian plan way inside that envelope?
It seems to me that the Navy reaction time is zero when an aircraft is within 1,000 yards. There should be none within 100 miles! You have what, ten minutes, to react with an enemy aircraft 100 miles away. You have 3 seconds at 1,000 yards. Hardly enough time to contact the White House to get permission to defend yourself.
They keep doing this and it will lead to a confrontation sooner or later. They are just daring our ships to open fire so they can justify a war.
The Chinese took one of our P-3s from W.
And it wasn’t blown out of the sky because?????
Is there not a huge difference between a drone (which may or may not have armament) and a manned fighter aircraft that carries a significant arsenal?
I cruised on Ike in '06-'07. Iranian P-3s in close vicinity were a regular occurance. Sometimes our pilots would chase them away, sometimes not.
Surprised this is actually news.
Because that would be an act of war.
People may find this surprising but Iran is allowed to play in their own back yard.
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