Iran's scale model replica of the RQ-170: for Obama and hobbyists

According to ABC News:

[T]he Islamic Republic said Tuesday that it will send President Obama a tiny toy replica of the [RQ-170]. Iranian state radio said that the toy model will be 1/80th the size of the real thing. Iranian citizens can also buy their own toy copies of the drone, which will be available in stores for the equivalent of $4.

Those of us old enough will remember back in 1976 when an American model maker (Mongram or Revell) did the same immediately following the West's acquisition of defecting pilot Viktor Belenko's MiG-25 Foxbat. The American model maker was able to provide a scale replica based on studies of the captured Foxbat. It's unfortunate, however, the Iranians will be releasing a 1/80 scale replica, as a more conventional scale for hobbyists would have been 1/72 or 1/48.

US Will Continue Using Drones

US Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz said today the Air Force now understands what caused the crash of one of its unmanned spy drones over Iran in December and continues to use that type of drone to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) data to military commanders [Reuters, 13 January].

Gen. Schwartz did not disclose the cause of the drone crash over Iran. The plane lost in Iran was on a mission for the CIA.

Iran Seeks US Apology Over Drone Incident

The Deputy Director of Armed Forces General Command Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri told reporters in Tehran today the US needs to apologize to Iran for using unmanned drones to spy on the country. Gen. Jazayeri termed the US behavior “unacceptable” and added that such behavior will be “costly” for the US, and the Iranian “defensive reaction” would not be limited within its own borders [IRNA, 10 December].

The chairman of national security committee of the Iranian Majlis has said that the US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone was captured some 250 kilometers inside the Iranian territory, near the Kashmar-Tabas road in eastern Iran, on Sunday 4 December.

Captured RQ-170 shown on Iran TV - Video

IRGC/ASF Commander Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh and a colonel on Iran TV provide a tour of the captured RQ-170 stealth drone.

YouTube video by Revayat88

Iran in possession of RQ-170 Sentinel stealth drone

According to Fox News:

Military sources confirmed that the Iranians have the RQ-170 drone, which is so advanced that the U.S. Air Force has not distributed even a photo of it. However, they did not say that the Iranians shot down the spy plane, as was reported by Iran's official IRNA news agency.

"This is a big prize in terms of technology," a senior U.S. military source told Fox News.

Fars News Agency provided the following details on the capture of the RQ-170:

"An advanced RQ-170 unmanned American spy plane was shot down by Iran's armed forces. It suffered minor damage and is now in possession of Iran's Armed Forces," a military official told FNA on Sunday.

The drone had been downed with help from the Iranian military's electronic warfare unit.

Stephen Trimble at a FlightGlobal blog postulates the capture might be linked to a relatively recent Russian delivery of the Avtobaza ground-based electronic intelligence and jamming system:

Only six weeks ago, Russia announced delivering the Avtobaza ground-based electronic intelligence and jamming system to Iran. Most Russian weapons exports to Iran are blocked, including the proposed transfer of the S-300 surface to air missile system. But there is a key difference between a SAM battery and a jamming system. The S-300 can vastly complicate a strike on an Iranian nuclear site at Natanz or Qoms. A jamming system, such as the Avtobaza, is unlikely to be used to defend such a site because it could interfere with the radar of the S-300 or the Tor-M1 SAM battery.

The Avtobaza, moreover, is designed to jam side-looking and fire control radars on aircraft and manipulate the guidance and control systems of incoming enemy missiles. It would be the perfect tool to target and perhaps infiltrate the communications link that allows a UAV to be controlled from a remote location.

File photo: Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle

File photo: Russian built Avtobaza