Iran: US Drone Data Reportedly Being Recovered

[slim 1,514]

This is just part of Gun Walker.

They're going to impose sanctions on Iran now for importing drones.

[Nagishkaw 510]

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) � Iranian experts are in the final stages of recovering data from the U.S. surveillance drone captured by the country's armed forces, state TV reported Monday.

Tehran has flaunted the drone's capture as a victory for Iran and a defeat for the United States in a complicated intelligence and technological battle.

Lawmaker Parviz Sorouri, who is on the parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, said Monday the extracted information will be used to file a lawsuit against the United States for the "invasion" by the unmanned aircraft.

Sorouri also claimed that Iran has the capability to reproduce the drone through reverse engineering, but he didn't elaborate.

The TV broadcast a video on Thursday of Iranian military officials inspecting what it identified as the RQ-170 Sentinel drone. Iranian state media have said the unmanned spy aircraft was detected and brought down over the country's east, near the border with Afghanistan. U.S. officials have acknowledged losing the drone.

Officers in the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's most powerful military force, have claimed the country's armed forces brought down the surveillance aircraft with an electronic ambush, causing minimum damage to the drone.

American officials have said that U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Iran neither shot the drone down, nor used electronic or cybertechnology to force it from the sky. They contend the drone malfunctioned. The officials spoke anonymously in order to discuss the classified program.

U.S. officials are concerned others may be able to reverse-engineer the chemical composition of the drone's radar-deflecting paint or the aircraft's sophisticated optics technology that allows operators to positively identify terror suspects from tens of thousands of feet in the air.

They are also worried adversaries may be able to hack into the drone's database, although it is not clear whether any data could be recovered. Some surveillance technologies allow video to stream through to operators on the ground but do not store much collected data. If they do, it is encrypted.

Sorouri racheted up the anti-U.S. rhetoric in Monday's remarks.

"The extracted information will be used to file a lawsuit against the United States over the invasion," he told state TV.

Separately, in comments to the semi-official ISNA news agency, Sorouri said Iran would soon hold a navy drill to practice the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormouz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, which is the passageway for about 40 percent of the world's oil tanker traffic.

Despite Sorouri's comments and past threats that Iran could endanger the waterway if the U.S. or Israel moved against Iranian nuclear facilities, no such exercise has been officially announced.

"Iran will make the world unsafe," if the world attacks Iran, Sorouri said.

Both the U.S. and Israel have not rule out military option against Iran's controversial nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at making atomic weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying its nuclear activities are geared toward peaceful purposes like power generation.

A link to the above posted would be appreciated.

[spookyturtle 9,465]

I'm surprised that it doesn't have some sort of self destruction system built in that could be activated in case of emergency.

[slim 1,514]

I'm surprised that it doesn't have some sort of self destruction system built in that could be activated in case of emergency.

The thing about aircraft is it's kind of hard to add enough explosives while still keeping the weight down and keeping it safe enough to fly. An easier form of "self-destruct" is for the electronics to be scrubbed. Memory dump is as easy as pushing a button. (Assuming that button still works.)

[spookyturtle 9,465]

The thing about aircraft is it's kind of hard to add enough explosives while still keeping the weight down and keeping it safe enough to fly. An easier form of "self-destruct" is for the electronics to be scrubbed. Memory dump is as easy as pushing a button. (Assuming that button still works.)

Some sort of data destruction should be an absolute requirement. It's only a matter of time before a plane crashes and ends up in enemy territory. Something like this was bound to happen.

[slim 1,514]

Some sort of data destruction should be an absolute requirement. It's only a matter of time before a plane crashes and ends up in enemy territory. Something like this was bound to happen.

Something like this did happen. Remember when the AWACS was captured by the Chinese?

The crew went through emergency procedures to scrub any sensitive data and destroy any components that contained classified material. The reason it took so long to get them back was there was a p!ssing match over how long the Chicoms could keep the plane to examine all the hardware. It was even whispered the crew were spies and not military personnel.

If this was just a "malfunction" (as opposed to a trojan horse of some type) it's highly probable there's nothing of value on the drone. If there is, they've already changed all our other drones so the technology loss doesn't impact us in the future.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

A link to the above posted would be appreciated.

Really?

Google: ap iran us drone recover data -- voilà: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gcFy-sv48KElRtfaPZYc-iARt7_g?docId=46e11c11adf44113a0bd1216a0667f88

[MyLittlePony 340]

Maned spy planes is still the best way to go.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Really?

Google: ap iran us drone recover data -- voilà: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gcFy-sv48KElRtfaPZYc-iARt7_g?docId=46e11c11adf44113a0bd1216a0667f88

Yeah, really. And thanks.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

From looking at the drone as if it was handed over to Iran for to draw more attention the drone has no damage.

It may have landed without damage due to sophisticated programs that land it by itself if control is lost. While this IS rocket science, we DO have rocket scientists.

These things are not cheap and you are not going to allow it to just crash because someone drops the joystick. It would also be designed with "remote intelligence" it would not have on board senstivie information, it simply cannot. You do not send hardware into an enemy's territory that is truly valuable to the enemy. Obama is a dumb@ss but he did not design the drone so we are probably OK

Now, no doubt the Russians and Chinese would like to learn about the hardware and I am going to stick my neck out and say our cameras are better, and all other hardware is better than what they have. Unmanned drones themselves are nothing new.

In terms of being a huge intelligence loss, I highly doubt it (but we are not going to say one way or the other) and it was a stupid mistake for Obama not to order an immediate strike on the craft, just pf r a PR move if nothing else. Take any opportunity you can to spoil their day.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Gary and Alla