Iran Fires On US Drone

Type of Iranian Jet Used:

Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week, CNN has learned. The incident raises fresh concerns within the Obama administration about Iranian military aggression in crucial Gulf oil shipping lanes. The drone was in international airspace east of Kuwait, U.S. officials said, adding it was engaged in routine maritime surveillance. Although the drone was not hit, the Pentagon is concerned.

Looks like trouble...

Article & News Video
AP Article
Here's a vid of a drone being taken down recently in Israel:

Haha, I love the manipulative wording.

Naughty Iranian's aggressively shooting down our instruments of war!

Smells funny.......could that be Obama,
soiling his pants at the thought of another drawn out war?

reply to post by davcwebb

if they can't shoot down a drone, they are not dangerous.

reply to post by Beavers


Except that our instrument of war was in international airspace where it had every right to be. What if it had been an RC-135, or a C-17? Or even worse, an A320, or 737? They had every right to fly a Predator in international airspace, wherever they wanted to, without it being shot at.

How can a trained military jet pilot 'miss' a prop driven unarmed drone?
We shot down drones when I was in the military for target practice with RedEye missiles, and those drones were much smaller.

Shot across the bow intimidation or harassment I would guess, unless they need glasses.

Two Iranian Su-25 fighter jets fired on an unarmed U.S. Air Force Predator drone in the Persian Gulf last week, CNN has learned.

Will just copy my sentiments from the other thread over:


Interesting how we did not hear about it, until after election.

I seriously think that this could have sway some opinions. Well, maybe not to many.

Well Well.
Itchy trigger fingers.

Iran doesn't want war, but isn't this an act of aggression?

reply to post by Lonewulph


It depends on what they shot at it with that determines whether this was a fail or not. Gun shots aren't anything like in the movies. They are extremely hard to pull off, and there's a chance of having target fixation and flying into the target you are supposed to be shooting at. The gun has an extremely limited range, and a narrow window to hit with. Unless you have an advanced HUD that does your lead computing, for you, you're going to miss 8 times out of 10.


Add to that the fact that a Predator is a relatively small target, compared to any fighter or bomber that most pilots train to shoot down, and you have a miss.

I like how they use the words "unarmed Predator". That just seems I dunno illogical... I mean did it just get done dumping it's pay load and was returning to home base? I don't blame Iran, they want us to leave them alone, but we are the ones showing our aggressive nature. I really hope we don't go to war with Iran, but the media has perverted people's minds just one to many times, there are so many people willing and ready to fight them for no reason. It's sad we can do very little to stop our military aggression in the region.

In my eyes its a deceleration of war.....in international airspace they fired on US aircraft.

If it was over their airspace i can see shooting it down.

Im not for another war, but for the love of all things living, someone needs to step up to the plate.

IMO.....its because Obama has a lax foreign policy and people see him as weak.

They were testing the waters so to speak....gauging our reaction.

What is our response officially?

reply to post by Zaphod58


I disagree ... it's a Predator drone, typically armed with Hellfire missles, and has been used in Afghanastan and Pakistan to kill hundreds or thousands and that much is common knowledge. With tensions as they are, that would be a majour tactical concern off your shores. Was it in international waters and unarmed as they say, or are those truth-stretchers for us to buy? Does the US normally fly them unarmed near Iran or potentially hostile zones? Would a pre-emptive strike against drones that are too close not be justified?

reply to post by wishful1gnorance


The Predator flies unarmed all the time. It doesn't have a big weapons load, like the Reaper does. I think the Predator only carries four Hellfires, where the Reaper carries a lot more.

FACTS:
1.) The drone was unarmed.
2.) The drone was over International waters/outside of Iranian airspace
3.) The drone was not hit...and returned safely

Is this an 'Act of War'?...It's certainly an Act of Aggression'!
WHAT will Barry-O do?

Sounds to me like someone needs a cruise missile up their tail pipe.

Proportional response... just sayin.

Originally posted by grey580
Sounds to me like someone needs a cruise missile up their tail pipe.

Proportional response... just sayin.

then those invisible nukes and other wmd's may start flying.

reply to post by Northwarden


None of that matters though, if it hadn't penetrated Iranian airspace. The US, and any other nation is allowed to fly any aircraft they want to, armed or not, in international airspace without fear of it being shot down. If it had penetrated Iranian airspace, and was back out in international airspace, that's another matter. If it never penetrated their airspace, then the US had every right to fly it where they wanted to.

Depending on the mission, a Predator will fly unarmed or armed. If it's routine maritime patrol, watching out for a ship, or watching for anything suspicious going on, then there's no reason to arm it. The ship under watch will be more than able to defend itself. If this was the Gulf of Aden, and it was on an antipiracy patrol, then yes, I would expect it to be armed, and I would say it was a Reaper, not a Predator.

Time for a reciprocal hit on an Iranian target....Oh, lets say,...an Iranian nuclear site?

Funny that two fully-armed Iranian fighter jets...couldn't kill a little ol' american unarmed, prop-driven, model plane.
Hmmm...maybe these guys aren't so tough afterall.

There could always be the possibility that the news was a little biased and failed to mention that the Iranians stopped firing after it reached international airspace after accidently flying into Iranian airspace.

after all, Kuwait is west of Iran and as the article says

The drone was in international airspace east of Kuwait, U.S. officials said, adding it was engaged in routine maritime surveillance.

look at a map and see the relationship to the event

What's ALSO funny, is that this event happened on November 1!
Wonder why we're hearing about this AFTER the election?