(CNN)Once the dust cleared, it turned out that one of the enduring lessons from the past week occurred at about 22,000 feet.

The Iranian downing of an RQ-4A Global Hawk on Thursday is thought to have been the first time one of the Pentagon's surveillance workhorses has been shot out of the sky. Aside from the fact the incident nearly risked taking the United States and Iran to war for a few hours, it was also stark evidence of an escalation in Tehran's military capabilities.

"They work," said Jeremy Binnie, Middle East and North Africa editor at Jane's Defence Weekly, of Iran's air defenses. The incident "highlights that when the Iranians really make investment, it can really count," he told CNN.


"We knew that with ballistic missiles, but it appears the case with air defenses too."

The RQ-4A isn't a clay pigeon. At $110 million each, the Global Hawk needs three people to remotely pilot it and its sensors. Wider in wingspan than a Boeing 737, it has a Rolls Royce engine moving it along at around 500 miles per hour as it hoovers up signals and images normally at 65,000 feet to keep out of the way of surface-to-air missiles. Even if they get too close, it has a radar-warning receiver, a jamming system and releases a decoy, towed behind it.

But its destruction is a sign of Iran's quiet focus. Binnie pointed out the size of the aircraft makes it "not a tough target in that respect", he said. "A few years ago this would have been a surprise, but now their new air defense gear looks a lot more impressive."

While America's military is by no means threatened in the long term by Iran, instances like the downing of the drone show that Tehran can sometimes have an outsized effect with narrowly-focused efforts, and is an adversary certainly capable of keeping its opponents off balance. The US would win any conventional conflict in the short term, but should be wary that Iranian ingenuity (or deviousness, if you're in Washington) will stop any conflict from being a "cakewalk."

Despite the dispute over precisely where it happened, there's no doubt the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps managed to destroy one at 4:05 a.m. on June 19. The US military has released video to support its claim that it happened 34 kilometers from the nearest Iranian land mass, and showed a flight path that suggests the spy drone never entered Iranian territory. Conversely, Iranian Foreign Minister Javid Zarif tweeted coordinates for the attack that put it well inside Iranian territory -- near the city of Kouh-e Mobarak.

The IRGC said it used a "3rd of Khordad" surface-to-air missile system, images of which have been circulating now on social media as a symbol of Iranian prowess against the staggering unmanned technology the Americans unleash in the stratosphere every day.

The Khordad 3 was first unveiled in 2014, has a range of up to 75 kilometers, and can hit as far up as 30 kilometers, Iranian state-backed media has said. Janes concluded the strike was likely from a mobile vehicle, given the US contention the missile was launched from 70 kilometers away, and there is no Iranian facility matching that location. In short: Tehran took out a US spy drone from the back of a fancy truck.

While the US has massively improved its drone fleet since the Global Hawk first came to the Navy 13 years ago, with the MQ-4C Triton about to join service, Iran also has more advanced missiles than the one that took down the drone last week.

Ten days before the incident, Iran unveiled an upgrade which has nearly double the range and is also homegrown -- the product of a series of reverse-engineering feats and technology purloined over the years by the sanctions-strapped country.

Binnie said the Iranians had either bought or developed radar technology that had helped them improve targeting at a distance. "We do not really understand how these guidance systems are working," he said.

Ok

We moving gradually to the end war

The question is what is US drone doing in Iran air?

Waiting for folks who always equates military budget to Victory to come and explain this. Military equipment is all about efficacy not the price TAG.

princemillla:
The question is what is US drone doing in Iran air?

surveillance drone

Shameless US would deny

This is old news (from 2019).

It’s the same RQ-4A Global Hawk that Russia captured off the coast of Crimea a few months ago.

Old stale news!

The Rise of Persia.

ruggedtimi:
surveillance drone

What US cannot take is what they will be forcing on others,they can't allow surveillance drones in their airspace,but they have the "right" to spy on others,abi?

The problem of going to war with America is that they bring it to your doorstep.

Even if you "Defeat" them, they leave your country in ruins while they're hosting grammies, partying and balling back home.

The worst you'll get is street protests.

Old news

How true/recent is this news

The phase of wars has changed.

anonymous1759:

Waiting for folks who always equates military budget to Victory to come and explain this. Military equipment is all about efficacy not the price TAG.

now u dey compare Iran weapons with u.s. Lol!!..

Magnetic010:
How true/recent is this news

it very true but is an old story , Iran has done something worse than this to US, but the MSM will underreport such incidences.Iran has Used their advance electronic warfare equipment to capture an American drone from an American soldier and landed it safely in Iran, they disconnected the American operator from controlling the drone and take over control of the drone themselves

There’s money for war, but no money to feed the poor.

What a joke

ba7man:
The problem of going to war with America is that they bring it to your doorstep.

Even if you "Defeat" them, they leave your country in ruins while they're hosting grammies, partying and balling back home.

The worst you'll get is street protests.

They can only do it with week country not like Russia, China or North Korea

ba7man:
The problem of going to war with America is that they bring it to your doorstep.

Even if you "Defeat" them, they leave your country in ruins while they're hosting grammies, partying and balling back home.

The worst you'll get is street protests.

for weak countries tho.. powerful countries with mad capabilities will bring any war US wants to their homelands.. it won't be a one way thing and that's why US has been scared of directly engaging countries like Russia.

ruggedtimi:
now u dey compare Iran weapons with u.s. Lol!!..

What I’m saying is that USA can tell you her weapon is $1b that doesn't make it superior to another country whose same weapon is $1m the most important thing is efficacy. Russian has been using Iranian so called cheap drones destroying western expensive weapons which comes with a heavy price and hype.

Either old news or future news, my question is what is US drones doing in Iranian airspace

We saw balloons floating over their airspace few months ago and the whole world wouldn’t hear word, they claimed the Chinese were spying on them, without concrete evidence

Another thing that’s apparent now is that Iran is not the weak nation they make us believe with their mainstream media, several sanctions induced by the US on Iran didn’t stop them from advancing and developing themselves technologically, unlike Nigeria that will be crying from pillar to posts when the US say we won’t sell you weapons, Iran said “fuxk you and your sanctions,” and went to work

The US really need to sit down and redirect their focus and stop poke nosing on other nations business and activities, you believe your people can be gay, transgender etc but go around stoping other nations from doing what they want to do, who does that??

You own and store chemical weapons everywhere, but trying to stop other nations from developing and owning their own too


You wouldn’t let other nation position their weapons close to you, but you want to take your own to them and position it in their faces

topmostg:
for weak countries tho.. powerful countries with mad capabilities will bring any war US wants to their homelands.. it won't be a one way thing and that's why US has been scared of directly engaging countries like Russia.

well by he truth is that if we are being serious you can’t take a war to US soil and win because the millions of civilians with war grade weapons would have engaged you before the armed forces even arrive, that’s one angle to bring wing war to homeland US, the Homeland security too, coast guards etc are always on red alert

topmostg:
for weak countries tho.. powerful countries with mad capabilities will bring any war US wants to their homelands.. it won't be a one way thing and that's why US has been scared of directly engaging countries like Russia.

No country is capable of doing that. I repeat, none.

Why? You dare not set up a Millitary Base in any territory around the USA but they have everyone surrounded already.

The worst you can do is hit their bases in other countries for now.

Dabronze:
They can only do it with week country not like Russia, China or North Korea

They have all those 3 countries surrounded.

Why do you think the U.S support Ukraine or China is reluctant calling North Korea to order?.....that's their last buffer against American Millitary encroachment.

Lol calling North Korea a strong country. It's the Chinese support they hide behind to make noise. South Korea alone will level that poor country with a large underpaid army.

I’m sure this incident happened about 7yrs back.

Creeper:
This is old news (from 2019).

It’s the same RQ-4A Global Hawk that Russia captured off the coast of Crimea a few months ago.

Yes this is old news but not the same drone Russia downed off the coast of Crimea.

Russia downed a reaper drone not this one.

Gadafii:
Either old news or future news, my question is what is US drones doing in Iranian airspace

We saw balloons floating over their airspace few months ago and the whole world wouldn’t hear word, they claimed the Chinese were spying on them, without concrete evidence

Another thing that’s apparent now is that Iran is not the weak nation they make us believe with their mainstream media, several sanctions induced by the US on Iran didn’t stop them from advancing and developing themselves technologically, unlike Nigeria that will be crying from pillar to posts when the US say we won’t sell you weapons, Iran said “fuxk you and your sanctions,” and went to work

The US really need to sit down and redirect their focus and stop poke nosing on other nations business and activities, you believe your people can be gay, transgender etc but go around stoping other nations from doing what they want to do, who does that??

You own and store chemical weapons everywhere, but trying to stop other nations from developing and owning their own too


You wouldn’t let other nation position their weapons close to you, but you want to take your own to them and position it in their faces

Your brief analysis is exactly the problem of the world today

ba7man:
They have all those 3 countries surrounded.

Why do you think the U.S support Ukraine or China is reluctant calling North Korea to order?.....that's their last buffer against American Millitary encroachment.

Lol calling North Korea a strong country. It's the Chinese support they hide behind to make noise. South Korea alone will level that poor country with a large underpaid army.

You call DPRK weak, but the USA has refused to invade the notwithstanding that NK Aja’s revealed it has nuclear weapons. But the USA invade an Iraq claiming Iraq had weapons of mass destruction even though Iraq denied this.
USA should invade a weak DPRK let’s see.