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Air Force Says Iran Didn't Down Drone

First time accepted submitter QQBoss writes "The Air Force is not saying what caused the RQ-170 UAV to crash in Iran, but that Iran's claim to have forced it down is erroneous. The drone didn't come down and land gently as Iran had suggested it did. At least Iran got a good photo op, though the more interesting question is what technology will they be able to glean from what they did capture."

10 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Forget PR by cold+fjord · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If they did, I very much doubt they will say anything about it.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  2. Uh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Do people expect the military to admit that their drone wasn't hacked and gently landed? Of course they're going to save face here. I don't trust their PR department any more than I trust any other PR department.

    1. Re:Uh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      the fact is that Iran HAS the unit, even if they had to duct tape it back together. Even if it crashed, it was still close enough to Iran to land ON THEIR SIDE of the border. The thing to take as US citizens is that our military is consistently goading Iran along... Obviously the drone was violating Iran's airspace when it went down... so our government is stoking them to keep up the crazy talk.. just because they are paranoid doesn't mean our side isn't out to start shit.

  3. Re:SOPA by oldhack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yeah, Lawyers vs. Mullahs.

    I can only hope they annihilate each other.

    --
    Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
  4. Self-Destruct anyone? by mvmortier · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why doesn't the drone have a self-destruct functionality?

    I mean... isn't this like the ultimate reason for that functionality? So that technology doesn't get into enemy hands? Just like spies having these suicide pills?

    Oh well... seems like this one doesn't have any.

  5. Don't trust USAF, but in this case . . . by walterbyrd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is extremely unlikely that Iran "hacked" the drone and landed it.

    You are right not to trust the US government stories. But, Iran is not especially trustworthy either.

    The most likely story is: the drone lost signal, or had some sort of mechanical problem, and glided to a crash landing. Iran picked up wreckage - which was probable not that bad.

  6. Re:Alt. Scenario by l00sr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The real scenario:

    Drone crash-lands in Iran due to software bug.
    Iran hauls drone away in pick-up truck, gives it a paint job, and makes it the centerpiece of a propaganda campaign.

    Never attribute to advanced spycraft that which can adequately be explained by incompetence.

  7. Re:Forget PR by Sun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    hell I throw away machines a dozen times more powerful than that old POS chip.

    There are more important aspects to a chip that is supposed to be used in an aircraft than processing speed. Radiation resistance, temperature sensitivity, having a frame that can withstand 9G over time and twice that at emergencies, etc. count for more than having more processing power, even if the result is that you are using a less powerful chip.

    The reason the 386 took so long to be replaced wasn't because of some slow working committee. It is because the economical pressures at ground levels are different, causing chip makers to produce chips that are indeed faster, but less suited to the operating conditions inside a fighter aircraft.

    I didn't know they actually found an alternative. Maybe they didn't, and are just so swell stocked up on 386s that they feel there is no need to pay the cost to Intel of keeping the old production line open.

    Shachar

  8. Re:Forget PR by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You believe all the distortions, half truths and misrepresentations sold to you by the CNNBCFox?

    It is impossible to retort to those who play in imaginary sandboxes. I'm glad that - at least - you didn't pay for that brainwashing.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
  9. Re:Forget PR by Patch86 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Noise jamming is not "technical wizardry." It is the crudest form of electronic jamming known to man. It's the "hail mary" of the jamming world. If Iran used it, they did so because their technology is primitive, not because they had inside information.

    Well, it did work. Seeing as they successfully netted themselves a USAF unmanne drone with simple noise jamming (if that is indeed what happened), anything "more sophisticated" would have been wasted effort. Like picking the lock on a door when the window is wide open.