US/Israel underestimated Iran's capabilities.

stuar

I think iran has shown itself to be a little more sophisticated than anybody has imagined, earlier this week it was reported that they had shot down a sophisticated US spy drone, now it's almost fact that they blocked US operators, overcame the top notch security and encryption and safely landed it a little over 100km inside iranian airspace, so it may have only been in Iranian airspace a very short time and it was cyber hijacked and safely landed by computer engineers\pilots with seemingly no prior knowledge of such an aircraft.

If they can take control on an unarmed drone, why not an armed drone and return to sender or elsewhere?

U.S. Air Force Fact Sheet
RQ-170 SENTINEL

Mission
The RQ-170 is a low observable unmanned aircraft system (UAS) being developed, tested and fielded by the Air Force. It will provide reconnaissance and surveillance in support of the joint forces commander.

Background
The Air Force's RQ-170 program leverages the Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs and government efforts to rapidly develop and produce a low observable UAS. The RQ-170 will directly support combatant commander needs for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to locate targets.

The RQ-170 is flown by Air Combat Command's 432nd Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., and the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron at Tonopah Test Range, Nev.

And if they can take control of the RQ-170, why not the Tomahawk Cruise Missile, and input a new set of coordinates and send that somewhere else, certainly not unthinkable now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk_(missile)#Tactical_Tomahawk
Tactical Tomahawk
A major improvement to the Tomahawk is network-centric warfare-capabilities, using data from multiple sensors (aircraft, UAVs, satellites, foot soldiers, tanks, ships) to find its target. It will also be able to send data from its sensors to these platforms. It will be a part of the networked force being implemented by the Pentagon.
"Tactical Tomahawk" equips the TLAM with a TV-camera for with loitering capability that allows commanders to assess damage to the target and to redirect the missile to an alternative target, if required. It can be reprogrammed in-flight to attack one of 15 predesignated targets with GPS coordinates stored in its memory or to any other GPS coordinates. Also, the missile can send data about its status back to the commander. It entered service with the US Navy in late 2004.
In May 2009, Raytheon Missile Systems proposed an upgrade to the Tomahawk Block IV land-attack cruise missile that would allow it to destroy or disable large, hardened warships at 900 nautical miles (1,700 km) range.

The Iranian video shows a fairly intact drone that wasn't shot down, it was safely landed, meaning the highly sophisticated, high flying, highly regarded, radar invisible aircraft was hacked, jammed, flown and landed while the US waved goodbye to it, next time they saw it, it was on display with an altered US flag with skulls instead of stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chSD1cloUuQ

The Outside Agency

No expert on aviation but the device on display looked bit fake.
Maybe it was badly damaged and they patched it up for the photoshoot.

frag420

just a thought but perhaps the yanks wanted it to be shot down/captured in a kinda trojan horse way. Maybe there are loads of little bots in there that have now escaped and are running riot in Iran??

Maybe...........

The Outside Agency

yeah, good point

most likely you'll see cloned versions for sale on ebay by next christmas once the chinese get a chance to reverse engineer it.

radio controlled stealth drones. $50

You can already build UAV for about $1500, might not be stealth..but hey, not bad.

stuar

The landing gear is missing, so I assume it was damaged on landing, if they were going to make a mock up I'm sure they'd have included possibly the strongest part of the craft, or just maybe they took control of the latest in US technology and landed it, maybe not perfectly but I've read it was in mountainous terrain so a damaged landing gear is acceptable and also disabled its inbuilt self destruct mode.

When the chinese and ussr get a look at it maybe a little more light will be shone on it.

I had thought of the trojan horse theory, but I believe it's the real deal and the US are a little worried and are along with Israel reconsidering how to attack Iran now as all the latest aircraft use similar technology.

Maybe, just maybe Iran has a few intelligent people that out-smart the best of the US's latest technology, not impossible as the US scientists/engineers/war machine makers are human also.

The Outside Agency

I'd be very surprised if the Iranians were capable of hijacking the controls but It's certainly possible if we look at how easy it was for the Taleban to record video footage from the drones during initial invasion of Afghanistan.

You'd expect high grade encryption to be used for the control of these aircraft but I wouldn't be surprised if it's no more sophisticated than an expensive toy.

If you look at the DIY drones, these autopilot using GPS and i'd bet the military uses something similar but on a private network so intercepting or atleast disrupting those signals is a good possibility.

You may recall the downed B2 Stealth Bomber and also Stealth UH-60 chopper at the Bin Laden compound...all now in the hands of the Chinese.

If the chinese were analysing the navigation protocols of these aircraft, perhaps they figured out how most of them operate and devised simple ways to bring them down.

Recall that Chinese nationals were buying US military components used for communications...on ebay!

The Outside Agency

Found another story about Philipino selling drone on ebay

eBusted: Man arrested in sting operation after selling U.S. spy drone on eBay
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1372440/E-busted-Man-arrested-FBI-sting-selling-U-S-spy-drone-internet.html#ixzz1g31MoHkP

Daily mail but probably legit.


US Accuses China of Cyber Attacks on NASA Satellites; China Denies All Allegations

Read more: http://www.itproportal.com/2011/10/31/us-accuses-china-cyber-attacks-nasa-satellites-china-denies-allegations/#ixzz1g33YMt17

Ellis Dee

This drone is a goldmine for reverse engineers and will provide a wealth of information relating to its electronics and the composition of the stealth coating used, to name just two examples.;)

Even though I suspect the Great Satan and possibly also its chief satyr in the region the zionazi Little Satan are once again underestimating the Iranians, it is unlikely that Iranian scientists and technicians will possess the facilities and techniques to squeeze the last drop of new technology from the device.:)

But the Russians and the Chinese certainly do and this will cost the Americans dearly in two ways: a major boost to advanced weapons development in Russia and China and considerable extra expense for the USA as it is forced to compensate for this loss of a technological advantage.:)

Well done, Iran!;)

studiorat

Ellis Dee wrote: »

Well done, Iran!;)

Satan? When did the Ayatollah move to Laois?

Iran would want to be eejits not to have the technology, they've had it in their nuclear processing plants for the last three years.

But how did they get the drone, did it just crash in some farmers field? or did they actually do anything?

Ellis Dee

studiorat wrote: »

---

Iran would want to be eejits not to have the technology, they've had it in their nuclear processing plants for the last three years.

Who said the Iranians wouldn't want to have the technology? However, they are probably not as capable as the Russians or Chinese at reverse engineering the drone that is now in their possession, so they are likely to collaborate with one or both of those countries. Either way, technology that the Great Satan (as the Iranians understandably call the USA) did not wish to fall into the hands of its major rivals is now in their hands. ;)

I think you will find, if you look it up, that the technology involved in making coating materials that resist radar detection and in electronic guidance systems for drones is rather different from what is used in uranium-enrichment centrifuges. But don't let little details like that confuse you. :rolleyes:

studiorat

Ellis Dee wrote: »

I think you will find, if you look it up, that the technology involved in making coating materials that resist radar detection and in electronic guidance systems for drones is rather different from what is used in uranium-enrichment centrifuges. But don't let little details like that confuse you. :rolleyes:

Have a little think about it there your eminence. I was talking about the technology that was on the centrifuge logic controllers : Here

ie. that they used similar injection code.

kaahooters

the us dosent use any encryptin on there drones, you can take control of them with a smartphone if you know what your doing.

Socialist_Pig

kaahooters wrote: »

the us dosent use any encryptin on there drones, you can take control of them with a smartphone if you know what your doing.

bull****.

no miltary uses 2g/3g frequencies to control anything.

seanmacc

Socialist_Pig wrote: »

bull****.

no miltary uses 2g/3g frequencies to control anything.

You would hope not. I'd be concerned that Russian, Pakistani, Indian or North Koean nukes would not be so sophisticated. Various hackers over the years have boasted about breaking into the pentagon with relative ease. No matter how sophisticated a system is there is nearly always a backdoor into it.

Rhys Essien

What are the chances that this drone is a dud with nothing onboard of significance but is fitted with a tracking device.

And If Iran ship it to China or Russia it will be tracked all the way.

The Outside Agency

Apparently it is just a very expensive toy...

U.S. Knew Of Downed Drones Vulnerabilities And Iran Says It Did Too

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-knew-of-downed-drones-vulnerabilities-and-iran-says-it-did-too-2011-12#ixzz1ghSnvj5T

Jamming of commercial satellite communications (SATCOM) links is a widely available technology. It can provide an effective tool for adversaries against data links or as a way for command and control (C2) denial.


Small, simple GPS noise jammers can be easily constructed and employed by an unsophisticated adversary and would be effective over a limited RPA operating area.

studiorat

stuar wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chSD1cloUuQ

[/SIZE]

Skorchio!

weisses

Interesting tread .... Still waiting for the conspiracy part of it though

The Outside Agency

weisses wrote:

Interesting tread .... Still waiting for the conspiracy part of it though

The CT is the NATO want to invade Iran for their energy reserves instead of nuclear weapons which they proclaim.

weisses

nivekd wrote: »

The CT is the NATO want to invade Iran for their energy reserves instead of nuclear weapons which they proclaim.

And that is discussed exactly where ???

studiorat

Seems the jokes about this are flying around Iran : “Sepah officials announced in an interview that we were able to extract valuable technological information from the US drone for Iran: The drone has two wings and three wheels. Also, the wheels are two meters apart!!”

SNAKEDOC

that is no more a US drone landed by iranian scientists.

http://www.google.ie/imgres?

it is a good mock up of this drone. do you really think that those drones fly around iran with the slightest chance that the iranians could intercept it and put it on show. they would send in a strike flight of f22's to blow it to bits before it hit the tarmac if it was not responding to flight controls. The US are not as stupid as that and if you believe that than stupid you too. iranian scientists are been blown up by the us british or isreali spys by the car load and their nuke program is floundering the US drone thing is propaganda for outside support oh look at us we brought down a drone overour skys, does gary powers in a russian court ring any bells U2 on display beside the krimlin that sort of thing. publicity for support against the US. that is all that is goin on here. if they had brought that thing down they most certainly would not let it be known and would be trying to work out how to build one themselves. not display it on video

studiorat

SNAKEDOC wrote: »

if they had brought that thing down they most certainly would not let it be known and would be trying to work out how to build one themselves. not display it on video

Tis a very good point. Much better idea to say you blew the thing to bits and strip the thing down telling no one. Although I wonder is there anything onboard that really is any more technologically advanced than what the Iranians are already capable or you wouldn't find in a Cessna.

Be like Nutella

the intakes are different as it the wing edges to the real deal... the theory floatin around is that it's a dumbed down version iuncase it did crash for whatever reason...makes sense to me.

What doesn't make sense is to NOT assume that
a) encryption was not used making anything like whats being discussed i.e. taking over controls etc etc completely impossible under any circumstances, any.
b) it doesn't make sense that it wasn't destroyed.. i.e. self destruct or any other manner

it's perplexing... I wouldn't rule out the trojan horse theory... as wild as it seems.. there's all kinds of mind games you could play with that type of move... and the dumbed down stealth profile i.e. intakes...wings etc.. supports that hypothesis in some ways.

That Iran just took over this thing and landed it.... seems too far outside of probablility to consider.

Malfunctions do happpen...and I'm sure contingencies are pre set...i.e.' if you stray outside of flightpath 'etc...then glide to landing ASAP or any other number of possibilities here... and if you consider malfunction as part of what happened then this theory gains plausibility... theory being...so it malfunctioned...went off-air....strayed off path...OR was just where it was i.e. in Iranian air space... and tried to land itself etc etc..

The main issue which should be noted here is that this drone which is a verison of the x-45/Phantom ray is basically the future of US warfare.... there's gona be squadrons of these guys flying off carrier within 10 years semi-automonously....scary stuff...for many reasons

Be like Nutella

example

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_Polecat

"
On December 18, 2006, the aircraft crashed due to an "irreversible unintentional failure in the flight termination ground equipment, which caused the aircraft's automatic fail-safe flight termination mode to activate."[4] "

stuar

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/07/did-iran-just-shoot-down-a-u-s-stealth-drone/

For the third time this year, Iran is claiming it shot down an American robot warplane trying to snoop on Tehran’s nuclear facilities. “An unmanned U.S. spy plane flying over the holy city of Qom near the uranium enrichment Fordu site was shot down by the Revolutionary Guards’ air-defense units,” lawmaker Ali Aghazadeh Dafsari told Iranian state television.

As with all “news” reports coming from Tehran’s official media apparatus, it’s wise to take Dafsari’s claim with a grain of salt. Notably, no one is showing off any fresh wreckage of an American robot — a popular pastime in other countries where drones have gone down.

That said, there’s reason to believe Dafsari — and reason to believe the drone in question is one of a small fleet of radar-evading ‘bots the Pentagon saves for the most important, and difficult, missions. That would make the latest U.S. drone casualty the first stealth robot to be shot down, that we know of.

This link from July shows what looks like the drone on display, and asks the question has Iran shot down a US drone, actually they claimed to have shot down 3 by July so maybe they were able to decrypt the encryption used and did safely land this one, the one pictured in the link was photographed in Afghanistan in 2007 and looks exactly like the one on display and states its a 
RQ-170!

Indeed, that’s one possible role for the U.S. Air Force’s secretive RQ-170 (pictured), a stealthy, flying-wing UAV first spotted in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2007. The Air Force copped to the RQ-170′s existence in 2009, making it the first acknowledged, operational stealth drone.

The unnamed Iranian boffin told Christian Science Monitor that Iran developed the attack after reverse-engineering previously captured or shot down US drones, and by taking advantage inherent weaknesses in the GPS navigation system.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/12/21/spy_drone_hijack_gps_spoofing_implausible/

stuar

Haha the Iranians have a good sense of humour, seems their going to return the drone after all, and sell them at $4 a pop.

Iran to give US a model of downed American drone

Iranian state radio says Tehran will give the United States a model of the American surveillance drone captured by the Islamic Republic.
The report Tuesday said the toy model of the RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone will be sent to the White House in response to a formal request from Washington last month asking Iran to return the aircraft that went down over Iran in December.
State radio said the model will be one eightieth the size of the original aircraft. The report says the models also will be sold on the Iranian marked for about 70,000 rials, or around $4.
The Obama administration has asked Iran to return the drone which Tehran says it detected over the eastern part of Iran some 140 miles (225 kilometers) from the Afghan border.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/national-and-international/iran-to-give-us-a-model-of-downed-american-drone/article_93b9831c-3ec7-5ebc-9a21-a951d5be3eee.html#ixzz1jhrvrMBY

While Iran’s government has so far refused an American request to return the C.I.A. stealth drone it captured last month, on Tuesday, an Iranian company that is manufacturing miniature replicas of the drone in several colors offered to send President Obama a pink one.