Iran Will Probably Need China Or Russia To 'Unlock' The Drone's Secrets

U.S. Drone A Tech Challenge For Iran -- Washington Times

Islamic republic could unlock secrets by asking Russia, China.

Iran likely would turn to Russia or China for help in reverse engineering a U.S. drone that landed in its territory last year because the Islamic republic lacks the manufacturing capability to replicate the technology.

U.S. experts say China and Russia each have a broader scientific and manufacturing capacity than Iran and the proven capability to reverse engineer advanced technology.

Last year, China unveiled its first stealth jet fighter, which experts say is modeled after a U.S. F-117 that crashed in Serbia more than 10 years ago.

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My Comment: I suspect that an agreement has already been reached between Iran and both countries (Russia and China) to dissect and understand the RQ-170's capabilities and secrets.

F-22 Tech Was On Drone That Crashed In Iran

F-22 Technology On UAV That Crashed In Iran -- Aviation Week

The first clear pictures of the center-line reconnaissance bay on Lockheed Martin’s RQ-170 Sentinel show that the small unmanned aircraft was carrying sensor balls mounted in an internal compartment with specially treated transparent panels—developed for the F-22—when one of them crashed in Iran on Dec. 4.

The new pictures were taken at Kandahar airport in Afghanistan on Sept. 30. The images show that a wheels-up landing would have inflicted massive damage to the bay and sensor package.. That package is “similar to some of the podded electro-optical/infra-red [EO/IR]systems” used by other non-stealthy aircraft and unmanned aerial systems, says a veteran black-world engineer with insight into U.S. UAS programs.

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My Comment: A description of the tech that is on the RQ-170 Sentinel .... and what the Iranians now have on their hands.

USAF UAV That Crashed In Iran Likely Malfunctioned

RQ-170

Analysts: Lost USAF UAV Likely Malfunctioned -- Defense News

Iran's claims to have brought down one of the U.S. Air Force's stealthy unmanned RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance aircraft are highly dubious, analysts and Pentagon officials said.

However, the loss of contact with the pilotless jet cast doubts on the service's claim that it has a good handle on maintaining uninterrupted control of such aircraft.

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My Comment: Let us hope that it was a malfunction, and not something more serious like .... was it hacked, or was it hijacked because of sabotage.

More Pics On The Beast Of Kandahar

Full Frontal Shot Of The Beast Of Kandahar -- Defense Tech

New pics of the nose section of the Air Force’s secret RQ-170 Sentinel UAV have emerged over at Secret Projects forum. The shots were apparently taken at an air base in Afghanistan, presumably Kandahar, the base where other pictures of the plane have been taken.

Steve Trimble over at Flight Global points out that the Lockheed-built drone’s main air intake is quite different, basically higher, than those on Northrop Grumman or Boeing’s stealthy drones, the X-47B and the Phantom Ray, respectively.

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More News On The Beast Of Kandahar

Return of The ‘Beast of Kandahar’ Stealth Drone -- The Danger Room
The Beast Is Back -- Ares/Aviation Week
The 'Beast of Kandahar' Stealth Aircraft Quietly Resurfaces in New Pics -- Popular Science