AP: Iraq shoots down US drone(unmanned) recon plane...

MSNBC

[TheBattman]

Iraqi aircraft shot down a U.S. unmanned surveillance drone

I believe it says Iraqi aircraft not anti-aircraft.... Was this a slip, or were there actually Iraqi aircraft flying?

[blam]

".... Was this a slip, or were there actually Iraqi aircraft flying?"

Fox News is reporting Iraqi aircraft.

[jraven]

AIRPLANE? I thought a drone was Al Gore delivering a speech.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Seems an Iraqi Air Force pilot did the shooting ...

[12B]

If we allowed them to penetrate and shoot down anything of ours without dropping their aircraft, someone is going to get hung out to dry.

You can't miss opportunities like that.

[ken5050]

Correct, and the Times article I mentioned above takles about letting the Predators defend themselves against air-to=air missles from Iraqi planes.....I thought the Iraqi AF was still in Iran..

[Centurion2000]

Seems an Iraqi Air Force pilot did the shooting ...

And now he has the most kills of anyone in their entire air force.

[md2576]

Fox News is reporting Iraqi aircraft.

Fox reported earlier that the military was expected to go after the aircraft and base.

[12B]

Am I stoned or does that look like the Gipper?

[Nexus]

Is this the first air to air "assault" by Iraq since the the invasion of Kuwait? No Fly Zone breach=Material breach, I say.

[twyn1]

Right -- FOX News is saying that it was an Iraqi aircraft, in the No-Fly Zone, are the Iraqis trying to provoke a confrontation ? Do we now have the right (under the U.N. agreements) to go after the field that this plane came from, as well as any control towers, tracking radars, etc. ?? Flying an aircraft in the No-Fly Zone should be (yet another) definite breach of the U.N. accords that Saddam agreed to (after the first Gulf War)

[AzJohn]

From AP, 10:40 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Iraqi aircraft shot down a U.S. unmanned surveillance drone over southern Iraq Monday, American military officials said.

The Predator drone was conducting a reconnaissance mission, a senior official with U.S. Central Command said. The plane is presumed a total loss.

Iraqi fighter aircraft penetrated the southern no-fly zone over the country and fired on the Predator, and its controllers then lost contact with the plane, the official said.

"This action is the latest chapter in a lengthy list of hostile acts by the Iraqi regime," said Jim Wilkinson, a Central Command spokesman.

Iraqi air defenses have fired on U.S. and British warplanes patrolling the no-fly zones over Iraq almost 500 times in 2002, officials said. American and British aircraft have come under attack on 32 days since Nov. 8, when the United Nations' Security Council agreed on a new weapons' inspection regime for Iraq.

The no-fly zones were set up after the 1991 Gulf War to prevent Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from using his aircraft over northern and southern Iraq. His fighters sometimes cross into those zones and are pursued by American or British warplanes.

Most of his attacks on U.S. and British aircraft, however, come from surface-to-air missile sites on the ground, rather than from his air force. Iraq's fleet of about 300 fighter aircraft is short on spare parts and its pilots receive little training, defense officials said.

Predator reconnaissance drones are flying over the country looking for signs of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction programs.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Iraq: Air Force and Army Air Corps
v.3.0 March 3, 2002

[TomGuy]

Could it be...no, they wouldn't...surely not....allow the Iraqi plane to shoot it down so they would have another "breach"? ....and know exactly were the Iraqi plane originated from.

[Wolverine]

Mary, Did You Know? 

[blam]

"Fox reported earlier that the military was expected to go after the aircraft and base."

The Iraqi's may be trying to set up a SAM trap to shoot down the aircraft that they know will retaliate.

[RobFromGa]

It is the Gipper! I don't know what your mental state is?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Meanwhile, Hans Blix couldn't find his butt with both hands...

[Hatteras]

"Seems an Iraqi Air Force pilot did the shooting..."

[Walkingfeather]

I was just wondering the same thing. I wonder if the racks for the hellfire missiles would work for stingers. I wonder if we can monitor approaching enemy aircraft from satalite and then fire the stingers remotely and have them seek out the aircraft without having to add onboard radar and defense mechanisims. If we can see them through other means would we need to put it all on the preditor if the stinger is fire and forget? Any thoughts?