Air Force Says Iran Didn't Down Drone 248
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."
Re:Forget PR (Score:5, Insightful)
If they did, I very much doubt they will say anything about it.
Uh (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.
Re:SOPA (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, Lawyers vs. Mullahs.
I can only hope they annihilate each other.
Self-Destruct anyone? (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.
Why Drones? Right Here's Your Answer (Score:4, Insightful)
Imagine if this was a U2 or similar piloted vehicle instead of a drone. We'd be preparing the bombers right now, along with special congressional resolutions condemning the Iraqis to death for "capturing" one of "our boys." Meanwhile the Iraqi government would be parading him all over Tehran, mostly for the western media to slobber over.
Instead we get a few jokes on Leno and the Daily Show, and a lot of diplomatic posturing.
No doubt we're going to war with Iran no matter what the American people want, but at least not over a spyplane (for a change).
Re:Uh (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.
Re:SOPA (Score:2, Insightful)
Don't trust USAF, but in this case . . . (Score:5, 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.
Re:Uh (Score:2, Insightful)
If you manage to get your grubby hands on a drone, call a buddy over to help you pull the boxes. Get one man on the front section while the other pulls the boxes from the center of gravity (near the middle of the plane).
The rule of thumb is that boxes with the widest data connectors and RF (Coaxial) connections are more valuable. The more connections the box has, the more valuable it is.
Next, strip all antennae from the plane. I can't say more about this without being taken away by a black SUV, but if something is sticking out from the airframe, it's an antenna.
Ignore the propulsion section and all electronics connected to fuel lines.
TOP SECRET: You perform a hex dump only to find Excel on Windows CE running its flight simulator.
Re:Uh (Score:2, Insightful)
They didn't claim it landed intact.
They claimed to spoof the drone into believing it was over its home base, in which the runway was a few meters lower then at the Iranian airbase. As a result, the drone came in for a "hard landing", damaging its undercarriage because it expected the ground to be coming up in a few more meters rather then exactly when it did.
I'm not saying I believe the Iranian explanation by any means -- while I can believe them spoofing the civilian band GPS signal (those are very low power signals, which can be overpowered by a local transmitter), I find it very hard to believe the drone wouldn't be using the *encrypted* military band of GPS. They can't spoof that without access to the encryption keys (which admittedly, has been done recently by the Iranians as well).
I also find it very hard to believe the drone would fall back on civilian band GPS when the military band was unavailable, but stupider things have been done in the past. It is possible the military said "oh shit, from now on, if the military band goes unavailable, the drone self destructs instead of falling back on civvy gps" and that's why they believe its safe to fly them again, but aside from having a TS clearance, I doubt any of us will ever know the full truth in our lifetimes.
Re:Alt. Scenario (Score:5, 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.
Re:Forget PR (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Forget PR (Score:5, 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
Re:Forget PR (Score:5, 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.
Re:Forget PR (Score:5, 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.
Re:Forget PR (Score:4, Insightful)
If a half assed regime could down a multi-billion dollar super high tech weapon with shit bought at Home Depot, people might question if all those juicy contracts are really necessary.
Re:Forget PR (Score:4, Insightful)
If Iran used it, they did so because their technology is primitive, not because they had inside information.
Which technology is more primitive? The Iranians with their crude jamming, or the multi-million dollar drone which is clearly easily defeated by said crude jamming?
Re:Forget PR (Score:4, Insightful)
If a half assed regime could down a multi-billion dollar super high tech weapon with shit bought at Home Depot, people might question if all those juicy contracts are really necessary.
That is ridiculous. Drones are pretty clearly necessary, so finding an actual vulnerability would generate more contracts to fix the problem, not fewer from the elimination of drones.