The dismantled RQ-170 immediately after its crash landing. IRGC-AF footage
Iran Knows the Secrets of America’s Stealth Drone -- Jassem Al Salami, War is Boring
Tehran tracked, captured, studied, copied RQ-170
In response to Saudi Arabia’s biggest-ever war game, in early May Iran’s revolutionary guard hosted its biggest-ever arms bazaar. The highlight of the show was a private presentation for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei featuring Tehran’s copies of the U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone that Iran captured near the border with Afghanistan in late 2011.
The presentation revealed many of the secrets of the wing-shaped spy drone—and also recounted Iran’s methods for capturing the robot … and reverse-engineering it.
At the presentation for Khamenei, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of Islamic Republic Guard Corps Air Force, announced that an Iranian-made 1:7 scale model of the Sentinel has already flew—and that a full-size copy would perform its first test flight in four months. That is, no later than September.
Read more ....
My Comment: Even with all of this knowledge I doubt that Iran can build an equivalent RQ-170 .... but it would not surprise me if countries like Russia and China have been given access to this tech, and are now making good use of this knowledge.
Hi Mr WNU Editor, I remember at the time Debka had a few articles about China and Russia competing against each other for access with the price being help with the Iranian Nuclear program and weapons that had previously been denied to them from the aforementioned countries.
ReplyDeleteI recall something about China desperately wanting a sample of the stealth coating used on it.
The veracity of the Debka post is unknown but it wouldn't surprise me if it was true.
The Iranians have something that both Russia and China would be absolutely itching to get their hands on..
I'll bet the Israeli's have something much better and are keeping their mouths shut about it.
ReplyDeleteIndeed James - yet you and I will never know until after the event.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see/speak with my family we talk about different things like this but even they don't know about half of it, despite some of them still serving in Miluim (reserves).
If you have not come across the website Israel Defense it will give you a tinsy tinsy little flavour of the new stuff coming out - then you need to use your imagination because 90% will never make public domain, if they can do X and announce it to the public, then Y and Z will blow your mind!!
http://www.israeldefense.com
Is the English version...
http://www.israeldefense.co.il
Is the Hebrew version, you will need to run it through Google Chrome for the auto-translate to English if you can't read Hebrew, they generally have different stories not produced in English and is the better site of the two.
One Tech that is in the public domain already that I am very very excited about is Iron Beam.. (Coming to a screen near you, very soon!!)
Rafael CEO was quoted in April 2014 as stating: "The system has undergone feasibility tests, and we're now in the development stage. We're after the demo, but there is another development phase ahead of us. There are technology models that prove that it shoots down flying objects like flies. It has very high interception rate."
If it swats Mortars like flies as v1.0, can't wait to see extended versions 2.0, 3.0 and the rest..
I think it will give HEL-MD a massive run for its money, why.. For us it's life or death(genocide) which is a massive motivator, for HEL-MD, there still is not a sense of urgency as yet.
Thanks for the links. I'm Irish so when I used to drink Hebrew was no problem at all. People don't seem know it was you guys that really pioneered the use of drones back around Desert Storm. So you all have had a 10 year or so head start.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about Iron beam Mattathias ben Johanan .... it is a fascinating bit of tech that I have been following for over a year .... my last post on this Rafael-Israeli product was in February http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.ca/2014/02/israels-unveils-iron-beam-its-own-star.html
ReplyDeleteBut this tech is actually not new .... it is very similar to what Edward Teller and his team were pushing for in the early 1980s .... but it was shelved because the engineering had not caught up to the physics. It looks like the engineering has caught up.
As to the stealth coating that the Chinese have always been after .... they got their sample from the Pakistanis when U.S. special forces were unsuccessful in completely destroying their helicopter that crashed on the Bin Laden raid.
In regards to Israel' scientific - military research .... you are onto something there Mattathias ben Johanan. I graduated from Moscow State University .... but I also got a physics degree from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. (I then went into aeronautics and computer science .... but that is another story). We were all very competitive .... and we all had our "cliques". I am not Jewish .... but I found myself in the Jewish clique .... which was great because these guys and girls were super-smart and a big help in my studies. Not surprising ... years later .... I learned that many of these graduates .... brilliant in every way .... had emigrated to Israel. I can only imagine what they brought with them to Israel .... and what Russia lost when they left. Think of a whole classroom filled with Sergey Brins .... that is what we are talking about.
Edward Teller, now he is a very interesting character... and a brilliant mind.
ReplyDeleteMr WNU, thank you for the insight of your early years, the little tidbits you drop throughout your various posts since I've started following your postings point to a very fascinating life story - any thoughts of putting together a Memoir/Autobiography???
I'd certainly purchase it for the read!!!
James - I saw news recently of a tender for the IDF for a tunnel warfare drone considering it's like Swiss cheese under Gaza and Southern Lebanon - couldn't find the original article as search is limited to iOS device only as I'm in Rome with the wife at the mo (yes, had a few giggles at your Roman comments of late as it's spot on!), I did find a so so Jpost article:
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/IDF-Mobility-and-Robotics-Dept-seeking-robot-for-tunnel-warfare-351608
My point being, your bang on about the Drones, seems like they have a drone for virtually any task these days.
I think should we see a confrontation with a state (& I hope it's never again, but I doubt it), we will see some new techniques pioneered that the rest will follow, namely swarming enemy air defense batteries with drones to switch the radars on, followed by F-15/16's taking them out from standoff positions before the festivities really begin.
I do wonder what the IAF is already operating as an equivalent to RQ-170, like you say, they definitely have a head start...
I have lived a "Forrest Gump" type of life Mattathias. The fascinating life story is on my father`s and grandfather`s side .... and that is why I keep a very very low profile.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm...... The plot thickens! :)
ReplyDeleteNow you have piqued my interest. Perhaps your fore-bearers were connected with Georgi Rosenblum or were of interest to a real life Mr. Smiley. Or was there a dark side?
ReplyDelete