TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's military has shot down a U.S. reconnaissance drone aircraft in eastern Iran and has threatened to respond to the violation of Iranian airspace, a military source told state television Sunday.

"Iran's military has downed an intruding RQ-170 American drone in eastern Iran," Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam state television network quoted the unnamed source as saying.

"The spy drone, which has been downed with little damage, was seized by the Iranian armed forces."

Iran shot down the drone at a time when it is trying to contain foreign reaction to the storming of the British embassy in Tehran Tuesday, shortly after London announced that it would impose sanctions on Iran's central bank in connection with Iran's controversial nuclear enrichment program.

Britain evacuated its diplomatic staff from Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats in London in retaliation, and several other EU members recalled their ambassadors from Tehran.

The attack dragged Iran's relations with Europe to a long-time low.

"The Iranian military's response to the American spy drone's violation of our airspace will not be limited to Iran's borders," the military source said, without elaborating.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action against Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails to resolve the nuclear dispute.

Iran has dismissed reports of possible U.S. or Israeli plans to strike Iran, warning that it would respond to any such assault by attacking U.S. interests in the Gulf and Israel.

Analysts say Tehran could retaliate by launching hit-and-run strikes in the Gulf and by closing the Strait of Hormuz. About 40 percent of all traded oil leaves the Gulf region through the strategic waterway.

Iran said in July it had shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane over the holy city of Qom, near its Fordu nuclear site.


http://news.yahoo.com/iran-military-shoots-down-u-drone-state-tv-142804389.html

It is time we africans make our own drones to square some issues with France and the UK. The only problem is people like Jonathan GoodLuck , Allassane ouattara , Jacob Zuma and Blaise Compaore will be the first to sell those findings to western countries .

panafrican:

It is time we africans make our own drones to square  some issues with France and the UK. The only problem is people like  Jonathan GoodLuck , Allassane ouattara , Jacob Zuma and  Blaise Compaore will be the first to sell those  findings to western countries .

South Africa created already their own drones.
South African-built drone: http://www.southafrica.info/business/trends/newbusiness/denelseeker-150811.htm

Horus:

South Africa created already their own drones.
South African-built drone: http://www.southafrica.info/business/trends/newbusiness/denelseeker-150811.htm

Were those white south Africans or chocolate Africans? Also who's side will they (the whites) be on when the Europeans try to recolonize?

igbo2011:

Were those white south Africans or chocolate Africans? Also who's side will they (the whites) be on when the Europeans try to recolonize?

You should never trust a white person, and when the Europeans try to recolonize Africa the white South Africans will unite with the Europeans.

Horus:

South Africa created already their own drones.
South African-built drone: http://www.southafrica.info/business/trends/newbusiness/denelseeker-150811.htm

As Fidel Castro said before[b],"South Africa has an atomic bomb ,but who is in control  of this bomb?"[/b]
                                             
                                                          Fidel Castro,el lider maximo

[flash=450,350]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiXlHtBMejg&feature=player_embedded#![/flash]

Iran shows off captured US drone

[size=17pt]Iran shows off captured US drone[/size]

Iran triumphantly displayed one of America’s most advanced intelligence-gathering aircraft on Thursday after a spy drone crashed on its territory, leading Russia and China to ask to inspect its technology.

The RQ-170 Sentinel, supposedly the CIA’s unseen “eye in the sky”, capable of beaming back a trove of imagery and electronic intercepts, was broadcast on Iranian state television.

The aircraft was shown beneath an Iranian flag, apparently intact after crashing 140 miles inside the country last Sunday. State television claimed that an electronic attack had forced it down by overriding  systems. American officials acknowledged the loss of the aircraft, but said it was more likely the drone had simply crashed.

Russia and China immediately seized their chance to gain a unique insight into one of the world’s most powerful intelligence assets, asking Iran for permission to inspect the drone. Surveillance  over Iran by CIA-operated aircraft of this kind have been taking place for several years, using bases in neighbouring Afghanistan. Iran’s nuclear installations are believed to be the prime target.


The aircraft was shown beneath an Iranian flag, apparently intact after
crashing 140 miles inside the country last Sunday

The Sentinel, which entered service in 2009, is capable of both intercepting communications and gathering images. No Sentinels are known to have been lost before. Unlike other drones used by the CIA, notably the Predator and the Reaper, the Sentinel carries no weapons and its sole purpose is reconnaissance.

If Russia and China are allowed to inspect the Sentinel, their goal would be to identify - and then replicate - its advanced technology. Elizabeth Quintana, an expert on unmanned air vehicles at the Royal United Services Institute, said they would be particularly interested in the drone’s ability to evade detection by radar.

This “stealth technology” is also used by the most advanced “fifth generation” fighters in service with the US Air Force, notably the F-22 Raptor. “The Chinese and the Russians are looking to emulate the US fifth generation fighters,” said Ms Quintana. “The Chinese are very keen to replicate any American technologies and they are coming along in leaps and bounds.”

They would also want to study the RQ-170’s sensors, which allow it to keep large areas under surveillance while the drone loiters, undetected, at an altitude of 50,000 feet. The Russians and Chinese would also focus on its electronic eavesdropping capabilities and the mission systems that allow the aircraft to be guided and controlled.

In 2001, China managed to get hold of a P-3 Orion reconnaissance aircraft, operated by the US Navy, when it was forced down after a mid-air collision. This allowed China to develop counter-measures to the surveillance systems carried by the Orion, forcing the US to upgrade its entire fleet.

Ms Quintana said the American would be worried about the possibility of the “same thing happening” in respect of the Sentinel. It was “standard procedure” for US forces to recover or destroy any drones that are lost, she added. This aircraft appears to have gone down too far inside Iran for any such operation to be feasible.

Russia and China have relatively cordial relations with Tehran, although they allowed the United Nations to pass four resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran.

The Iranian armed forces are likely to use their possession of the drone as a bargaining counter and to seek concessions from Russia and China in return for allowing inspections. But Iran could lack the expertise needed to examine the Sentinel and reverse engineer its technology. Peter Singer, director of the 21st Century Defence Initiative at the

Brookings Institution, said: “What the Iranians are getting from this is symbolic and a shift in the discussion from their nuclear programme and taking over foreign embassies. They are not able to do a lot of reverse engineering on their own, but they have certain nations they have cooperated with in the past.  from Moscow and Beijing to Tehran have I’m sure been full this week.”

China will also be interested in the drone’s engine, added Mr Singer. “The ability to reverse engineer and understand how our aircraft work means the Chinese could build their own derivatives which would be an improvement on what they have now,” he said. The Sentinel is believed to fly at 500-600 mph, compared with the 100mph maximum of the better known Predator.

Some American experts suggested that Iran’s display of an apparently undamaged drone could have been faked, pointing to the four days that elapsed after its loss. “What I’m looking at is a parade float,” said John Pike, director of Global Security.org. “Why did it take so long to show it?”

Drones carry crucial advantages that justify the risk of using them over hostile countries. Satellites orbiting the earth can only cover their targets for relatively short - and predictable - time windows. Drones can loiter for extended periods, beaming back live pictures.

Source: http://www, co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8944248/Iran-shows-off-captured-US-drone.html