Can we have our drone back please?

[Gob]

US asks Iran to return captured drone




Iranian TV showed the unmanned "stealth" aircraft apparently undamaged

President Barack Obama has said the US government has requested that Tehran return the surveillance drone captured by Iran's military earlier this month.

Mr Obama said he would not comment on classified intelligence matters, but confirmed: "We have asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond."

Iranian TV broadcast pictures of the intact RQ-170 Sentinel last week.

Tehran said the aircraft was brought down using electronic warfare; Washington insisted it malfunctioned.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian state TV reported that military experts were in the final stages of recovering data from the drone.

A member of the Iranian parliament's national security committee, Parviz Sorouri, said the information they extracted would be used to "file a lawsuit against the United States over the invasion" by the aircraft.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton admitted that she did not think it likely that the drone would be returned.

"We are very clearly making known our concerns. We submitted a formal request for the return of our lost equipment, as we would in any situation. Given Iran's behaviour to date, we do not expect them to reply," she said.

She said that despite numerous "provocations" from Iran, the US would continue to pursue a "diplomatic approach".

The Revolutionary Guards, whose officers were filmed inspecting the drone on Thursday, said it crossed Iran's eastern border with Afghanistan and travelled 250km (155 miles) inside its airspace, before being brought down in a cyber attack.

However, US officials have said that intelligence assessments indicated that Iran neither shot down the aircraft nor used electronic warfare or cyber-technology to force it from the sky. They blamed a malfunction.

They are, however, concerned that Iran or its allies may be able to determine the chemical composition of the drone's radar-deflecting paint, or copy its engine, control systems, and sophisticated cameras and sensors, which allow it to monitor the ground from high altitude.

The Iranian government has sent a letter of protest to the United Nations, accusing the US of "provocative and secret actions" violating international law, and warning against any "repetition of such actions".

A former US official has said the Pentagon was using the drone to keep watch on Iran's controversial nuclear programme. Western powers believe Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, which it denies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16150384

[Scooter]

Shouldn't those things have some sort of autodestruct if they fall into the wrong hands? Or have I watched too much Star Trek?

[Joe Guy]

Shouldn't those things have some sort of autodestruct if they fall into the wrong hands? Or have I watched too much Star Trek?

That's what I would have thought.

But it's likely that any data the drone collected isn't salvagable.

[Crackpot]

apparently the self destruct malfunctioned too

[loCAtek]

Not exactly self-destruct. If it loses contact with its controller, it supposed to revert to a default program that sends it back to its base. That's what malfunctioned.
There is an automatic delete program of its on board data, which is why many are doubting the Iranians are downloading anything.

I'm still not convinced that's the drone and not a mock-up. The shape doesn't seem quite right and what are they hiding under that banner? If they're studying the internal components, then why isn't it opened up?

[Gob]

apparently the self destruct malfunctioned too

They should fit an overide on the self destruct which destroys the drone if the self destruct doesn't go off.

[BoSoxGal]

What if we said, 'pretty please with 72 infidels on top?'?

[Jarlaxle]

I wonder if this was INTENDED to be captured. It's a drone...but not quite. Maybe the anti-radar coating on the outside is just a LITTLE off, maybe the control surfaces aren't QUITE where they should be...and maybe the computer is actually loaded to the gills with trojans, viruses, and a couple logic bombs.

[Lord Jim]

Interesting theory Jarl...

I'd like to think that's the case...

[Gob]

Interesting, but assumes the Iranians have the technology to analyse and replicate it.

I've always thought the best way to end the Iran nuclear program would be to leave them go ahead and built it.

Then sit back and wait for the big bang and the mushroom cloud over Iran.

[Jarlaxle]

The Iranians might not be able to replicate it...but I expect the Chinese and the Russians would dearly like to try!

And I have had the hiccups for an hour. Which is bloody annoying!

[dgs49]

A local talk-show host here in Pittsburgh has claimed that Barry was told about the soft landing of the drone in Iran (before the Iranians had found it), and was offered three choices: (a) send commandos in to try to get it back, (b) destroy it on the ground, or (c) do nothing and hope.

He chose (c).

What a (fucking) surprise. The only possible wrong choice.

"Hope and Change."

Right.

[Scooter]

All predicated on any of it being true, and not birther propaganda, and even if so, whether and (a) and (b) were even remotely possible.

You do see the size of the thing. Needle in a haystack much?

[loCAtek]

It was considered, but it was a consensus not the PreZ' call alone;

U.S. officials thought about deploying Special Forces to recapture or demolish components of an RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone that went down in eastern Iran last week. “No one warmed up to the option of recovering it or destroying it because of the potential it could become a larger incident,” an official told The Wall Street Journal on condition of anonymity. If detected, the commando raid might have been considered an “act of war” by Tehran, the official added.

The Diplomat

This is all over-hyped, and hardly an incident compared to storming another country's embassy and taking civilian hostages. The Iranian FM wants to be to say, 'Oops, we invaded sovereign ground; destroyed and stole your property ...but we didn't mean it.'

While an unmanned, unarmed plane malfunction has them foaming at the mouth? Really?

[dgs49]

Pretty much confirms what I heard. They knew exactly where it was and could have - at least - destroyed it. Technology for which we undoubtedly paid, in total, billions.

And we were concerned that people who daily voice homicidal thoughts against all of us, might be offended.

Does anyone reading this not believe that the ultimate decision was made in the Oval Office?

Didn't think so.

How's that diplomacy thing workin' for ya, Barry? Hillary?

[Scooter]

Pretty much confirms what I heard.

If you've got the reading comprehension of a chanterelle mushroom.

[Lord Jim]

Unless you had really good intel, a commando raid doesn't sound like a good idea to me in this situation, (too much risk of winding up with our troops becoming casualties or prisoners, unless the thing was out in the middle of no where and you knew where the closest Iranian forces were so you could be certain you could get our guys in and out before they showed up.)

But if in fact they had the option to destroy it remotely and chose not to do so, that to me would be inexplicable.

[Crackpot]

there's a difference between destroying it remotely (blowing itself up) and sending something in to blow it up.

[Lord Jim]

Okay, well I guess what we have to assume is that the self destruct mechanism on this thing (which it surely must have been equipped with) could not be triggered, (though some of the systems must still have been working or we wouldn't have even known where it was) in which case the question would be whether or not to destroy it by sending in a cruise missile, or with an armed drone...(A manned bombing mission would have been unnecessary)

We certainly have the ordnance to do this kind of job with pin point accuracy; we've got missiles with guidance systems so sophisticated that they can fly through a city and be targeted to enter a specific window in a building...



But even so, there would be collateral damage in the immediate vicinity of the target. So, the key question in terms of whether or not to do this would be where the drone went down....

If it was in the mountains, or the dessert, or a cornfield, then absolutely, you take it out....

If it landed in the yard at an orphanage, on the other hand, then unless there was something really ultra secret that would do severe damage to our national security if it fell into enemy hands, (and if it were that important than the commando raid would be worth it too.) then probably not.

There are a lot of missing pieces here, and because of the security issues involved, I suspect they will remain missing for some time to come.

[Scooter]

some of the systems must still have been working or we wouldn't have even known where it was

They knew it was in Iran because that's where they sent it. That doesn't mean they knew its precise location after it came down.