Is U.S. Drone Shown on Iran TV Real?

ABC NEWS ^ | December 8, 2011 | MARTHA RADDATZ, LEE FERRAN, LUIS MARTINEZ

[gandalftb]

The aircraft shown on Iranian television today likely was not the American stealth drone that crashed in Iran last week, as the Iranian government claimed, but was likely just a model, U.S. officials told ABC News.

Today U.S. officials said the drone did not land intact.

[taildragger]

It is far larger than the Iranian fake.

Oh my...

Is this a smaller scaled proof of prototype that was fitted with false electronics or "other" intel gathering data equipment to get a leg up on the Iranians?

Could this even be the Mossad?

If they punking Wackmadinajob and all his minions it would laugh for days...

[BigSkyFreeper]

Don’t change the title of articles.

[SkyDancer]

All stories I’ve read say they do have one. But then, the fat lady hasn’t sung yet.

[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Add this photo. No wing seams here.

Then you're not looking hard enough.

What is the black line extending from the outboard opening of the wheel-well that extends from the forward corner of the wheel well along the bottom surface of the wing, around the leading edge of the wing and over the upper surface of the wing if not a seam?

[gandalftb]

Without a tail, flying wings need significant wing flight control surfaces on the trailing edge to control the pitch. Look at the puny ailerons on the Iranian fake. Look at the ailerons on der Luftwaffe Ho V, verstehen?

[Captain Jack Aubrey]

The fact that they are masking the landing gear from view is a tip off that theirs is a fake. The landing gear would give away a fake.

[gandalftb]

Oops! The title to this article was:

“Is U.S. Drone Shown on Iran TV Real?”

The original article I started to post had the following headline:

“Iranian Drone ‘Looks Like A Fake,’” With the following link:

http://defense.aol.com/2011/12/08/iranian-drone-looks-like-a-fake-not-an-rq-170-former-dod-off/

ABC has more credibility and I forgot to change the title. Thanks for catching that.

[Paladin2]

Ja, aber das is b4 Das Komputer flugzeug Kontrol, nicht wahr?

[Mygirlsmom]

OK everybody, what’s cheesier and more laughable, let’s vote:

I know it was probably a rhetorical question, but....

Iran’s fake RQ-170: While certainly laughable, it's the typical, expected cheesy move of a third-rate despotic, whack job regime.

Obama’s goofball cover story: It's the typical, expected cheesy move of a third-ra.....ummmm.....I'm not laughing, how about you?

[caldera599]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qKcJF4fOPs

[gandalftb]

Ja, natürlich, aber die Aerodynamik kann nicht betrogen werden.

[molson209]

at .47 in the video you can see damage on front of the wing ,looks like cardboard or paper

[Carry_Okie]

My thinking would have put a JDAM on target...

My thinking would have equipped it with a self-destruct device to be activated after a known interval since the last contact. IOW, if it's real, we meant for them to find it.

[Kommodor]

Perhaps folks should ask the question of why it appears to be a similar color to "butter Jesus", as opposed to an actual military paint color. Could it be that the Iranians forgot that the color of epoxy and fiberglass over foam isn't an official USAF camo color? Just a thought.

[Kommodor]

Oh, sorry for the poor formatting there, guess I need to use paragraph tags too (sigh).

[BigSkyFreeper]

Even if this drone is real, it’s not going be flight-worthy because they don’t have the software and hardware to start it up and get it in to the air. Once it’s rolled out of the hangar, it might be able to become tracked by satellite back here.

[Carry_Okie]

In a way, this has the stink of the Bernie Schwarz/Clinton/Loral deal, albeit perhaps with a deliberate twist of physical disinformation. After all, if you are the like of Loral or Raytheon, think of the contracts to replace your now obsolete existing technology should the "enemy" suddenly catch up.

Your creditors are happy (China), your contractors are happy, your Taxechusetts/Calipornia congressthugs are happy to spread the pork...

What's not to like?

[gandalftb]

Good eyes, that appears to be an assembly seam, outboard of the wheel wells. The Iranians copied that seam but covering it with putty or duct tape, per the video, is just comical.

If they had the real deal the seam would be flawless like the photo.

BTW, look at the width of the aileron on the trailing edge of the wing. Compare that with the size and location of the ailerons on the video fake.

[taildragger]

Without a tail, flying wings need significant wing flight control surfaces on the trailing edge to control the pitch. Look at the puny ailerons on the Iranian fake. Look at the ailerons on der Luftwaffe Ho V, verstehen?

Careful...

The RQ170 might have; Elevons, Flaps for Landings and Drag / Split Ailerons some for role control but more for drag on landing. Just like the B-2 and F117, But the Iranians pulled up some spoilers too....

[Paladin2]

Check out the (fuzzy pic to be sure) control surface size on the alleged pic of the real thing flying.

I was thinking that there could be a moveable mass (with an additional real function) in the drone to change the cog (and attitude) without external surface changes. Or they could fool with the power. Who knows?