Iranian TV shows images of 'downed' U.S. drone

[Nonphixion]

Price for the drone?


Nuclear Know-how, S300 are Iran's price for Russian, Chinese access to US drone
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis December 11, 2011, 6:37 PM (GMT+02:00)

Iran is driving a hard bargain for granting access to the US stealth drone RQ-170 it captured undamaged last week, as Russian and Chinese military intelligence teams arriving in Tehran for a look at the secret aircraft soon found. debkafile's Moscow sources disclose that the price set by Revolutionary Guards commander Gen. Ali Jaafari includes advanced nuclear and missile technology, especially systems using solid fuel, the last word on centrifuges for enriching uranium and the S-300PMU-1 air defense system, which Moscow has consistently refused to sell Tehran.

This super-weapon is effective against stealth warplanes and cruise missiles and therefore capable of seriously impairing any large-scale US or Israeli air or missile attacks on Iran's nuclear sites.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent Russian-speaking Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to Moscow on Dec. 7 to try and dissuade Prime Minister Vladimir Putin from letting Iran have the S-300 batteries as payment for access to the captured US drone.

Sources in Washington report that before sending Lieberman to Moscow, Netanyahu first checked with the White House at the highest levels.

Although he had his hands full with stormy demonstrations in Moscow protesting alleged election fraud, Putin received Lieberman at the Kremlin. But the interview was short. The Russian prime minister refused to discuss the episode with his Israeli guest or even confirm that Moscow was engaged in any deal with Tehran.

In answer to reporters' questions, Lieberman commented: "Russia's positions on the Middle East were not helpful."
American efforts to reach President Dmitry Medvedev and Putin on the drone deal through other channels were likewise rebuffed.

debkafile's sources report that the Israeli prime minister's decision to sent Lieberman post-haste to Moscow to intercede with Putin followed intelligence tips which indicated to Washington and Jerusalem that the Russians may have played a major role in Iran's capture of the RQ-170 on Dec. 4. They are suspected of even supplying Iran with the electronic bag of tricks for downing the US stealth drone undamaged.

If that is so, it would mean Moscow is deeply involved in helping Iran repel the next and most critical stage of the cyber war that was to have been launched on the day the US UAV was brought down.

Our exclusive intelligence sources add that that the RQ-170 was the first US drone of this type to enter Iranian skies. Its mission was specific.

Iran's success in determining the moment of the unmanned vehicle's entry and its success in transferring command of the drone's movements from US to Iranian control systems is an exceptional intelligence and technological feat in terms of modern electronic warfare.

Western intelligence watchers keeping track of the Russian and Chinese teams in Tehran have not discovered where the negotiations stand at this time or whether the Iranians have taken on both teams at once or are bargaining with each separately to raise the bidding.

Saturday, Dec. 10, the Revolutionary Guards Deputy Commander Gen. Hossein Salami, said Iran would not hand the captured drone back to the United States. He boasted: "The gap between us and the US or the Zionist regime and other developed countries is not so wide."

He sounded as though the bargaining with the two visiting teams was going well.

DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security

Iranian TV shows images of 'downed' U.S. drone
December 8, 2011 | 4:10 pm
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Iran photo of drone

REPORTING FROM TEHRAN, BEIRUT AND WASHINGTON -- Iranian television aired footage Thursday of what it said is an American radar-evading drone that the country’s armed forces recovered during the weekend.

The bat-winged aircraft appeared to be in good condition, based on the footage. It was displayed on a platform decorated with a banner saying "We'll trample America underfoot" and a U.S. flag with skulls instead of stars. The authenticity of the footage could not be verified.

Pentagon officials refused to confirm whether the aircraft seen in the video was a U.S. drone. “I am not commenting at all,” said Pentagon Press Secretary George Little.

But other officials said privately that the aircraft shown on Iranian television resembled an RQ-170 Sentinel, the kind of drone Iran’s armed forces said Sunday had been brought down after it violated the country’s airspace along the eastern border.

U.S. experts were studying the Iranian video, officials said, adding that the drone the U.S. acknowledged it lost late last week was still not in U.S. possession.

“We haven't recovered the drone that we believe is missing,” said Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.

Iran's armed forces said Sunday that their electronic warfare unit managed to take control of a Sentinel and steer it to the ground. The aircraft was detected over the eastern town of Kashmar, about 140 miles from the border with Afghanistan, Iranian media reported.

A senior U.S. official told The Times that the drone was on a mission for the CIA, raising fears that its sophisticated technology could be exploited by Tehran or shared with other American rivals.

Iranian officials have seized on the incident to promote the prowess of their armed forces at a time of deepening diplomatic isolation and growing Iranian anger over the Western campaign to stop the country's nuclear program. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of working to develop an atomic weapon, a charge denied by Iran, which maintains its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.

Esmail Kosari, the conservative deputy speaker of the Iranian parliament, described the reported downing of the drone as a “blow to the arrogant power” of the U.S.

“Now the United States see that after 31 years of sanctions after sanctions Iran has achieved a lot in its military industry,” Kosari said.

On Thursday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Swiss ambassador to protest “the violation of its airspace,” the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The United States does not have diplomatic representation in the country, so its affairs are handled by the Swiss envoy.

Source: Iranian TV shows images of 'downed' U.S. drone - latimes.com

[CharlieK]

My guess is that the Iranians are going to get pretty much what they want out of all this. Within reason, of course.

I'm amazed that the Bamster actually thinks he has a snowball's chance in 'you know where' getting the drone back. Now that is what I would call 'stupid'.

[DosEquis]

I am surprised those drones dont have a sort of self destruct setting in them, where if they lose contact with our equipment they fry themselves electronically speaking.

[notquiteright]

Well if the drone was spoofed it would think the closer, more powerful signal was mama and mindlessly obey, definition of drone after all.

I think it is near impossible this flight was the first, too much to coordinate and position in order to hijack the drone. It was only a matter of time before effective countermeasures would be fielded. Its need to transmit data is a target indicator.

It an odd situation-
One of the most sophisticated weapons in our arsenal is best used against the most primitive enemies we face.

As an aside, if the 'covert' Israeli explosions and computer gliches are to show how incompetent the mullahs are- THIS is quite the feather in their turbans.

[marshmallow]

Interesting article Nonphixion. We seem to be weak to Ahmadinejad. Maybe we are at this point in time. But he will be careful. Russia, China and U.S have a very interesting alliance. Might prove surprising in the future. Russia has Iran on its back door so has to play nice for awhile. I look forward to the roles each of us will play. Russia and China are loaded for bear and we do have a SUPER Weapon but it has not been revealed yet. Israel is no slacker either.

[marshmallow]

Originally Posted by DosEquis

I am surprised those drones dont have a sort of self destruct setting in them, where if they lose contact with our equipment they fry themselves electronically speaking.

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Ditto!