Posted on 09/23/2001 10:03:55 AM PDT by Old Lady
WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (AFP) - The United States lost a spy plane over Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Sunday, playing down claims that forces of that country's ruling Taliban militia shot down the aircraft.
"The US have lost contact with an unmanned aerial vehicle," Rumsfeld told journalists after appearing on a talk show early Sunday.
"That happens from time to time in terms of control. We have no reasons to believe it was shot down," he said.
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia on Saturday claimed its forces shot down a US spy plane in the northern Samangan province.
Previous posts:
Taliban again say shot down unmanned spy plane
Taliban say downs alliance helicopter,not US plane
Taliban claim shooting down of unmanned spy plane: report (more in depth news)
Spy Plane Shot Down Over Afghanistan
Taliban claims they shot down unmanned recon plane!
Here's the version from Chicken Noodle News -- has more detail. Rumsfeld argues here that we lost contact with the unmanned plane and that does not necessarily mean it was shot down.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/09/23/ret.afghan.plane/
Sources: Downed drone spied for CIA
September 23, 2001 Posted: 12:36 PM EDT (1636 GMT)
From Jamie McIntyre, CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. government sources indicate to CNN that the unmanned spy plane downed by the Taliban on Saturday was providing intelligence for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia claims its forces shot down an unmanned spy plane in Samangan and a helicopter in areas where opposition fighters had launched an attack. The Taliban said the plane contained computerized equipment and the wreckage will be brought to Kandahar.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld admitted that the Pentagon has lost contact with an unmanned drone, but said, "That happens from time to time."
"There's no reason to think it was shot down, as the press is reporting," he said.
The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan said Taliban forces used captured Soviet anti-aircraft guns to bring down the plane.
Two U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles have been lost over Iraq this year, while on surveillance missions. Iraq claims to have shot down the UAVs in late August and most recently on September 11.
The most common type of UAV or "drone" is the Predator aircraft, which flies at lower altitudes, making it more vulnerable to anti-aircraft attack. The small, $3.2 million pilotless plane normally operates at 10,000 to 15,000 feet and is capable of flying a maximum of 24 to 30 hours.
HA!
A "spy plane" implies manned flight. These unmanned drones are the military equivalent of throw-away Dixie Cups.
I wonder what the "good stuff" costs!
That's below ground in a lot of places in Afghanistan. The craft wasn't shot down. It was gang-tackled.
ROFL!!!
Remote piloting technology is probably where the majority of the cost comes from. I imagine there's some pretty serious surveillance equipment aboard and that's where the rest of the cost comes from. The other issue of cost is, of course, quantity produced. The cost is all the research, development and production divided by the number produced. (Incidentally, that's how we get 35,000 dollar toilets. They design a new john to fit a new aircraft or submarine, and you divide all design, development, research costs by the number produced.)
As this type war continues, where surveillance is so important, I would predict that many more of these will be ordered, and that that will drive production costs down.
1. The $3,000,000 is the total development and production cost divided by the total buy. The next one off the assembly line will be substantially cheaper.
2. What do you think the total cost of training troops, inserting them, losing them and paying off their survivors is?
War is expensive and hi tech war particularly so. Get used to it. The alternative is to send you in with a knife, a gun and a backpack filled with C-rations.
Don't worry. That's only the suggested retail price.
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