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شنود سرویس اطلاعاتی Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel - iran - sentinel drone - sentinel iran
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شنود سرویس اطلاعاتی Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel - iran - sentinel drone - sentinel iranIran Moves 35 Years Ahead by Reverse Engineering US Drone
Iran Moves 35 Years Ahead by Reverse Engineering US Drone
The RQ-170 engines are the fifth generation and the engines of Iranian unmanned planes are the third generation, Hajizadeh said on Wednesday, adding that to produce the engine we had to spend 35 years on the project.
He said that the home-made version of the US drone RQ-170 captured by the IRGC will make its maiden flight in the near future.
In relevant remarks in September, Lieutenant Commander of the IRGC said an Iranian drone which has been manufactured through the reverse engineering of the US drone which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011 will be unveiled to the public soon.
"All the memories and computer systems of this plane have been decoded and some good news will be announced in the near future not just about the RQ-170 and the optimizations that our forces have done on the reversed engineered model of this drone, but also in area of other important defense achievements," IRGC Lieutenant Commander General Hossein Salami said.
Iran announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense forces had downed a US RQ-170 aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack. The drone was the first such loss by the US. US officials have described the loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth drone program.
The RQ-170 has special coatings and a batwing shape designed to help it penetrate other nations' air defenses undetected. The existence of the aircraft, which is made by Lockheed Martin, has been known since 2009, when a model was photographed at the main US airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA, US officials admitted almost a week after Iran captured the plane.
The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
Since December, 2011, Iran has hunted down several more US drones of various types.
In January, a deputy commander of the Iranian Navy announced that the country's Army had hunted two more advanced RQ type Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
"The air-defense units of the Army have hunted two enemy drones," Deputy Commander of the Iranian Navy for Coordination Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari told FNA in January.
"These drones were from 11th series of the RQ class, and one of them was hunted in Shahrivar 1390 (August 21-September 19, 2011) and the other one in Aban (October 22-November 20, 2012)," Rastegari said, adding that the Army research center is now studying the two UAVs.
"Much of the data of these drones has been decoded by the Army's Jihad and Research Center," he said, but did not provide any further detail.
The remarks by the Iranian commander came almost one month after Iran announced on December 4, 2012 that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy had hunted a US UAV over the Persian Gulf after the drone violated the country's airspace.
The IRGC navy commander announced at the time that the hunted UAV was a ScanEagle drone, adding that "such drones are usually launched from large warships".
ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.
Iran later reproduced its own model of ScanEagle through reverse engineering techniques.
In April this year, a senior Iranian parliamentary official announced that Iran has reverse engineered the RQ-170, adding that the Iranian version of the drone would soon have a test flight.
"The brave personnel of the Armed Forces hunted down the drone with their knowledge and science and the Americans protested immediately and called for the return of the UAV," Chairman of the parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said in the Northern city of Rasht in April.
Iran has downed several US drones so far and Boroujerdi did not mention which one he meant, but explained, "The reverse engineering started immediately (by the Iranian experts after hunting down the US UAV) and the Iranian type of the US drone will fly in Iran's Aerospace Organization soon which shows the Islamic Republic's might and power."
Boroujerdi's remarks referred to RQ-170. The drone has special coatings and a batwing shape designed to help it penetrate other nations' air defenses undetected. The existence of the aircraft, which is made by Lockheed Martin, has been known since 2009, when a model was photographed at the main US airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA, US officials admitted in December. The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
Iran has downed many other US drones as well, and they have always started reproducing them after conducting reverse engineering on them.
Iran has recently made giant advancements in aerospace industries, specially in designing and manufacturing pilotless drones.
In April, the Iranian Air Defense Force displayed its Sarir (Throne) drones on the occasion of the National Army Day.
Speaking to reporters at the time, Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli stated that Sarir is a long-range, long-endurance radar evading air defense drone.
"Sarir is capable of carrying cameras and air-to-air missiles and tens of this UAV have so far been produced and used," he added.
Also earlier this month, Iran displayed its most advanced UAV designed and manufactured by the country's engineers.
The stealth drone, named Hemaseh (Epic), was unveiled in a special ceremony in the presence of former Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi.
The ceremony was held on the sidelines of a conference to commemorate the defense ministry's martyrs.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ceremony, Vahidi stated that the drone has been built by defense industry experts and is capable of conducting surveillance and reconnaissance missions as well as combat missions simultaneously.
Earlier, Deputy Defense Minister for Industrial and Research Affairs Mohammad Eslami had told reporters that Hemaseh enjoys higher capabilities compared with other Iran-made UAVs and can fly at higher altitudes and enjoys longer flight endurance.
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Addressing Iranian high school students and principals in Tehran on Saturday, Hajizadeh referred to the country's first drone, Mohajer, and said, "Mohajer could fly 3,000km since the beginning."
"But today, the operational range of all the different types of (home-made) drones used for different missions has also increased to 3,000km which is means a major step in the self-sufficiency of our defense industries."
The Islamic Republic has so far unveiled various domestically produced drones, including Ababil, Fotros, Hazem, Karrar (long range attack drone), Mohajer, Sarir, Shahed 129, Yasir and Zohal.
A senior Iranian commander announced in October that the IRGC Ground Force is finalizing manufacture of a new homemade drone armed with the RPG (rocket-propelled grenade).
Commander of the IRGC Ground Forces Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said at the time that the combat drone would carry the RPG with no Backblast.
Pakpour also noted that the drone has passed the tests and will be completed in the near future.
Iran unveiled its first homemade fighter drone that carries air-to-air missiles on September 23.
The Iranian media outlets reported that the drone is capable of destroying all types of aircrafts including fighters, small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters.
The country unveiled its first domestically manufactured long-range UAV named Karrar in 2010. The first Iranian medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, the Shahed-129 was unveiled in September 2012, which is capable of carrying out combat and reconnaissance eight missions for 24 hours and has a range of 1,700 km.
The country also unveiled its largest yet homemade UAV, titled 'Fotros' in 2013. Fotros has a range of some 2,000 kilometers and is capable of launching air-to-surface missile strikes. The drone can fly at an altitude of 25,000 feet, with a flight time of 16 to 30 hours.
Iran started mass production of the "Yasir" UAV in September 2013. Yasir can fly at an altitude of 15,000 ft., be in flight for eight hours, cover the distance of 200 km, and does not need a runway. The UAV is equipped with light powerful modern cameras, and can precisely control the target.
In relevant remarks earlier this month, Hajizadeh announced that four Iran-made RQ-170 drones - manufactured through the reverse engineering of a similar American pilotless plane that was downed by Iran in 2011, will start operational flights by the end of the current Iranian year (ends March 20, 2015).
"We have plans to bring into operation, at least, four indigenized RQ-170 drones for missions by the end of this (Iranian) year (March 20)," Brigadier General Hajizadeh said after the state-run TV displayed the footages of the first flight of an Iran-made RQ-170 drone.
"We will not extradite the US RQ-170 drone since it is a (war) trophy, but if the US sanctions against Iran are lifted, maybe we will give the US an Iranian model of the drone," Hajizadeh added.
He said that the Iranian version of the RQ-170 has been built through a combination of the US designs and ideas and those of the Iranian experts.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13930908001088
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"We detect spy planes from far distances and give them warning," Esmayeeli told FNA on Tuesday, adding that the U-2 stealth aircraft which was alarmed in December to stay away from the country's borders after Iranian missile shields locked on the US spy plane displayed the power of Iran-made radar systems.
He said with the help of the radar systems, developed through interaction between experts of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base and university elites, the country's Armed Forces managed to shoot down the Israeli Hermes drone in Summer, down a US RQ-170 aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack in 2011, and detect and bring down the plane carrying Abdolmalek Rigi who led the Jundollah terrorist group and was arrested and executed by Iran in early 2011.
"Today, thanks to the same elites, we have developed such a radar systems industry that is capable of detecting any type of aircraft," Esmayeeli said.
"We monitor Iran's airspace constantly and round-the-clock," he said, adding that his forces are responsible for the safety of flights across the Iranian airspace in addition to keeping the country's sky secure.
Esmayeeli also underlined that "the enemy fears Iran's might and doesn’t dare to confront the country".
General Esmayeeli announced in December that a U-2 stealth aircraft was alarmed to stay away from the country's borders.
"Last week a U-2 spy plane was tracked in the proximity of our country's borders; our missile systems came into action and we warned the aircraft and made it make a U-turn," Gen. Esmayeeli said, addressing a students gathering in the Northeastern city of Mashhad marking the national Students Day on December 7.
The General reminded that U-2 is a stealth aircraft which cannot be picked up by any radar screen in the regional states, "but it was tracked and identified by our systems".
U-2 is an American spy plane which was first built decades ago, but has been redesigned and upgraded in the last 60 years.
General Esmayeeli further noted the shooting down of the Israeli Hermes drone in Summer, and said finding the small drone is like finding needle in a haystack. "We should take good care not to harm passenger planes when identifying and shooting down such drones."
He said the shooting down of the Israeli Hermes drone in August was a product of well-concerted efforts by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Army.
The IRGC Aerospace Force shot down an Israeli spy drone before it could reach Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, in Central Iran late in August.
The Elbit Systems Hermes 450 is an Israeli medium size multi-payload UAV, designed for tactical long endurance missions.
It has a flight endurance of over 20 hours, with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay.
The IRGC Public Relations Department said in a statement in late August that the Israeli pilotless aircraft was a radar-evading, stealth drone with the mission to spy on Iran's enrichment activities by flying over Natanz nuclear enrichment plant.
The IRGC also pointed out in its statement that the Israeli hostile aircraft was targeted by a surface-to-air missile.
Then senior IRGC officials announced hours later that their experts were decoding the intelligence devices of the Israeli spy drone.
Director of the IRGC's Public Relations Department General Ramezan Sharif told FNA that some of the parts of the downed aircraft were working, "and our experts are studying the information and intelligence of these parts".
"We are now analyzing the information of this plane," he added.
Then, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced a few days later that the Israeli pilotless aircraft was a Hermes-type drone.
"The downed spy drone is Hermes and made in Israel," General Hajizadeh said.
He said the operational range of Hermes drones is 800 kilometers, adding that the aircraft can fly 1,600 kilometers by refueling once.
The General said parts of the aircraft had burnt out after it was targeted by the ground-to-air missiles of the IRGC Aerospace Force and after its fuel tank blast, yet "some parts of this drone are intact and we are now analyzing the information and intel of these parts".
Elaborating on the details of the downed Israeli aircraft, the commander further stated that the drone, which is 5.5 meters wide in wings, was equipped with two cameras which could take high-quality photos.
"There was no prior information available about the aircraft and the only one of this type had been downed in Syria, but this one is more advanced," General Hajizadeh said.
A few days later another Hermes drone was hunted in Iraq.
Iran has so far downed several US drones in the last few years. In the most notable case the country announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense forces had downed a US RQ-170 aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack. The drone was the first such loss by the US. US officials have described the loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth drone program.
The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA, US officials admitted in December. The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
Since December, 2011, Iran has hunted down several more US drones of various types.
In January 2013, a deputy commander of the Iranian Navy announced that the country's Army had hunted two more advanced RQ type UAVs.
"The air-defense units of the Army have hunted two enemy drones," Deputy Commander of the Iranian Navy for Coordination Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari told FNA.
"These drones were from 11th series of the RQ class, and one of them was hunted in Shahrivar 1390 (August 21-September 19, 2011) and the other one in Aban (October 22-November 20, 2012)," Rastegari said, adding that the Army research center is now studying the two UAVs.
"Much of the data of these drones has been decoded by the Army's Jihad and Research Center," he said, but did not provide any further detail.
The remarks by the Iranian commander came after Iran announced on December 4, 2012, that the IRGC Navy had hunted a US UAV over the Persian Gulf after the drone violated the country's airspace.
The IRGC navy commander announced at the time that the hunted UAV was a ScanEagle drone, adding that "such drones are usually launched from large warships".
ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.
Iran later reproduced its own model of ScanEagle through reverse engineering techniques.
Iran has downed many other US drones as well, and always started reproducing them after conducting reverse engineering on them.
The Iranian model of RQ-170 staged a flight for the media last month.
In relevant remarks in October, General Hajizadeh said that Iran moved as much as 35 years ahead in building drone engines by reverse engineering the US drone, RQ-170 which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011.
The RQ-170 engines are the fifth generation and the engines of Iranian unmanned planes are the third generation, Hajizadeh said, adding that to produce the engine we had to spend 35 years on the project.
He said that the home-made version of the US drone RQ-170 captured by the IRGC would make its maiden flight in the near future.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13931219000577
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"Our forefront today is reaching self-sufficiency" in every field, Hajizadeh said, addressing a forum at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran on Monday, and added, "The efficiency of the Iranian RQ-170 is no less than the US model."
Meantime, he underlined that Iran does not produce copy cat models of western products, but it uses them in its own models depending on the type of mission needed.
"The IRGC has never acted only based on the western patterns and models to build and use equipment, but it designs and builds tools and equipment proportionate to the threats, needs and missions given to it," he stated.
Hajizadeh reminded that Iran had acquired the drone building technology long before hunting the US model of RQ-170 in 2011 and reverse engineering it.
In relevant remarks in November, Hajizadeh announced that the Iranian version of the RQ-170 drone with the capability of conducting bombing and reconnaissance missions had its first flight after tests.
"We had promised to fly the final model of RQ-170 in the second half of the current (Iranian) year (which started on March 21) and this has happened and the footage of its flight will be released soon," Hajizadeh told reporters in Tehran.
Elaborating on the Iranian version of the RQ-170 drone which has been manufactured through the reverse engineering of the US drone which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011 and has been equipped by the IRGC with bombing capability, Hajizadeh had informed in September that "the prototype model of this drone (which was 60% smaller than the original drone in size) flew about three months ago and God willing, the final model of the plane will fly this year".
He said that the Americans themselves had also thought of providing the drone with bombing capability and foreseen some special parts for mounting bombs on the aircraft. Yet, they used it for reconnaissance and spying operations, he said.
"But we will use it for both missions," continued the General.
Some days after Hajizadeh's remarks, Iran released a footage of its RQ-170 drone's flight after tests.
Also in his September remarks, Hajizadeh referred to the downing of the US RQ-170 drone in 2011, and said more important than using its technology had been the "disclosure of the Americans' most advanced capabilities and weak points to us".
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13931120001384
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"Using the indigenized radars built by the young scientists and experts of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base, we can monitor all enemy moves even beyond the borders well and give the needed response if necessary," Sabahifard said on Tuesday after visiting the Base's units which are due to participate in the massive 'Mohammad Rasoulallah (PBUH)' wargames later this week.
Noting that the country's air defense units have alarmed several reconnaissance and surveillance planes, including some U-2 stealth aircraft, to stay away from Iran's borders in the past few days, he said, "Warning the radar-evading U-2 aircraft shows that this type of airplane can be easily discovered and traced by our radars."
The Iranian radars' capability to trace the U-2 spy planes was also earlier declared by another senior Iranian commander earlier this week.
"During yesterday and today, warnings have been issued to several reconnaissance aircraft of the trans-regional states which were flying near the FIR (Flight Information Region) of the country's borders," Lieutenant Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base General Shahrokh Shahram said on Monday.
"Some of these planes were of U-2," he added.
The increase in the number of spy planes flying near the Iranian borders comes as the country is preparing for joint military exercises codenamed 'Mohammad Rasoulallah (PBUH)' which are due to be held in the Southeastern parts of Iran by the Ground, Air and Naval Forces along with Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base on December 25-31.
Gen. Shahram, who is also the spokesman of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base's joint military exercises, also said that a part of the equipment, weapons and radar and missile systems had been deployed to the wargames zone.
Earlier this month, Iran's top air defense commander Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli announced that a U-2 stealth aircraft was alarmed to stay away from the country's borders.
"Last week a U-2 spy plane was tracked in the proximity of our country's borders; our missile systems came into action and we warned the aircraft and made it make a U-turn," Gen. Esmayeeli said, addressing a students gathering in the Northeastern city of Mashhad marking the national Students Day on December 7.
The General reminded that U-2 is a stealth aircraft which cannot be picked up by any radar screen in the regional states, "but it was tracked and identified by our systems".
U-2 is an American spy plane which was first built decades ago, but has been redesigned and upgraded in the last 60 years.
General Esmayeeli further noted the shooting down of the Israeli Hermes drone in Summer, and said finding the small drone is like finding needle in a haystack. "We should take good care not to harm passenger planes when identifying and shooting down such drones."
He said the shooting down of the Israeli Hermes drone in August was a product of well-concerted efforts by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Army.
The IRGC Aerospace Force shot down an Israeli spy drone before it could reach Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, in Central Iran late in August.
The Elbit Systems Hermes 450 is an Israeli medium size multi-payload UAV, designed for tactical long endurance missions.
It has a flight endurance of over 20 hours, with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay.
The IRGC Public Relations Department said in a statement in late August that the Israeli pilotless aircraft was a radar-evading, stealth drone with the mission to spy on Iran's enrichment activities by flying over Natanz nuclear enrichment plant.
The IRGC also pointed out in its statement that the Israeli hostile aircraft was targeted by a surface-to-air missile.
Then senior IRGC officials announced hours later that their experts were decoding the intelligence devices of the Israeli spy drone.
Director of the IRGC's Public Relations Department General Ramezan Sharif told FNA that some of the parts of the downed aircraft were working, "and our experts are studying the information and intelligence of these parts".
"We are now analyzing the information of this plane," he added.
Then, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced a few days later that the Israeli pilotless aircraft was a Hermes-type drone.
"The downed spy drone is Hermes and made in Israel," General Hajizadeh said.
He said the operational range of Hermes drones is 800 kilometers, adding that the aircraft can fly 1,600 kilometers by refueling once.
The General said parts of the aircraft had burnt out after it was targeted by the ground-to-air missiles of the IRGC Aerospace Force and after its fuel tank blast, yet "some parts of this drone are intact and we are now analyzing the information and intel of these parts".
Elaborating on the details of the downed Israeli aircraft, the commander further stated that the drone, which is 5.5 meters wide in wings, was equipped with two cameras which could take high-quality photos.
"There was no prior information available about the aircraft and the only one of this type had been downed in Syria, but this one is more advanced," General Hajizadeh said.
A few days later another Hermes drone was hunted in Iraq.
Iran has so far downed several US drones in the last few years. In the most notable case the country announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense forces had downed a US RQ-170 aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack. The drone was the first such loss by the US. US officials have described the loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth drone program.
The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA, US officials admitted in December. The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
Since December, 2011, Iran has hunted down several more US drones of various types.
In January 2013, a deputy commander of the Iranian Navy announced that the country's Army had hunted two more advanced RQ type UAVs.
"The air-defense units of the Army have hunted two enemy drones," Deputy Commander of the Iranian Navy for Coordination Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari told FNA.
"These drones were from 11th series of the RQ class, and one of them was hunted in Shahrivar 1390 (August 21-September 19, 2011) and the other one in Aban (October 22-November 20, 2012)," Rastegari said, adding that the Army research center is now studying the two UAVs.
"Much of the data of these drones has been decoded by the Army's Jihad and Research Center," he said, but did not provide any further detail.
The remarks by the Iranian commander came after Iran announced on December 4, 2012, that the IRGC Navy had hunted a US UAV over the Persian Gulf after the drone violated the country's airspace.
The IRGC navy commander announced at the time that the hunted UAV was a ScanEagle drone, adding that "such drones are usually launched from large warships".
ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.
Iran later reproduced its own model of ScanEagle through reverse engineering techniques.
Iran has downed many other US drones as well, and always started reproducing them after conducting reverse engineering on them.
The Iranian model of RQ-170 staged a flight for the media last month.
In relevant remarks in October, General Hajizadeh said that Iran moved as much as 35 years ahead in building drone engines by reverse engineering the US drone, RQ-170 which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011.
The RQ-170 engines are the fifth generation and the engines of Iranian unmanned planes are the third generation, Hajizadeh said, adding that to produce the engine we had to spend 35 years on the project.
He said that the home-made version of the US drone RQ-170 captured by the IRGC would make its maiden flight in the near future.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13931003000300
======================
"During yesterday and today, warnings have been issued to several reconnaissance aircraft of the trans-regional states which were flying near the FIR (Flight Information Region) of the country's borders," Lieutenant Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base General Shahrokh Shahram said.
"Some of these planes were of U-2," he added.
The increase in the number of spy planes flying near the Iranian borders comes as the country is preparing for joint military exercises codenamed 'Mohammad Rasoulallah (PBUH)' which are due to be held in the Southeastern parts of Iran by the Ground, Air and Naval Forces along with Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base on December 25-31.
Gen. Shahram, who is also the spokesman of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base's joint military exercises, also said that a part of the equipment, weapons and radar and missile systems have already been deployed to the wargames zone.
Earlier this month, Iran's top air defense commander Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli announced that a U-2 stealth aircraft was alarmed to stay away from the country's borders.
"Last week a U-2 spy plane was tracked in the proximity of our country's borders; our missile systems came into action and we warned the aircraft and made it make a U-turn," Gen. Esmayeeli said, addressing a students gathering in the Northeastern city of Mashhad marking the national Students Day on December 7.
The General reminded that U-2 is a stealth aircraft which cannot be picked up by any radar screen in the regional states, "but it was tracked and identified by our systems".
U-2 is an American spy plane which was first built decades ago, but has been redesigned and upgraded in the last 60 years.
General Esmayeeli further noted the shooting down of the Israeli Hermes drone in Summer, and said finding the small drone is like finding needle in a haystack. "We should take good care not to harm passenger planes when identifying and shooting down such drones."
He said the shooting down of the Israeli Hermes drone in August was a product of well-concerted efforts by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Army.
The IRGC Aerospace Force shot down an Israeli spy drone before it could reach Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, in Central Iran late in August.
The Elbit Systems Hermes 450 is an Israeli medium size multi-payload UAV, designed for tactical long endurance missions.
It has a flight endurance of over 20 hours, with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay.
The IRGC Public Relations Department said in a statement in late August that the Israeli pilotless aircraft was a radar-evading, stealth drone with the mission to spy on Iran's enrichment activities by flying over Natanz nuclear enrichment plant.
The IRGC also pointed out in its statement that the Israeli hostile aircraft was targeted by a surface-to-air missile.
Then senior IRGC officials announced hours later that their experts were decoding the intelligence devices of the Israeli spy drone.
Director of the IRGC's Public Relations Department General Ramezan Sharif told FNA that some of the parts of the downed aircraft were working, "and our experts are studying the information and intelligence of these parts".
"We are now analyzing the information of this plane," he added.
Then, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced a few days later that the Israeli pilotless aircraft was a Hermes-type drone.
"The downed spy drone is Hermes and made in Israel," General Hajizadeh said.
He said the operational range of Hermes drones is 800 kilometers, adding that the aircraft can fly 1,600 kilometers by refueling once.
The General said parts of the aircraft had burnt out after it was targeted by the ground-to-air missiles of the IRGC Aerospace Force and after its fuel tank blast, yet "some parts of this drone are intact and we are now analyzing the information and intel of these parts".
Elaborating on the details of the downed Israeli aircraft, the commander further stated that the drone, which is 5.5 meters wide in wings, was equipped with two cameras which could take high-quality photos.
"There was no prior information available about the aircraft and the only one of this type had been downed in Syria, but this one is more advanced," General Hajizadeh said.
A few days later another Hermes drone was hunted in Iraq.
Iran has so far downed several US drones in the last few years. In the most notable case the country announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense forces had downed a US RQ-170 aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack. The drone was the first such loss by the US. US officials have described the loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth drone program.
The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA, US officials admitted in December. The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
Since December, 2011, Iran has hunted down several more US drones of various types.
In January 2013, a deputy commander of the Iranian Navy announced that the country's Army had hunted two more advanced RQ type UAVs.
"The air-defense units of the Army have hunted two enemy drones," Deputy Commander of the Iranian Navy for Coordination Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari told FNA.
"These drones were from 11th series of the RQ class, and one of them was hunted in Shahrivar 1390 (August 21-September 19, 2011) and the other one in Aban (October 22-November 20, 2012)," Rastegari said, adding that the Army research center is now studying the two UAVs.
"Much of the data of these drones has been decoded by the Army's Jihad and Research Center," he said, but did not provide any further detail.
The remarks by the Iranian commander came after Iran announced on December 4, 2012, that the IRGC Navy had hunted a US UAV over the Persian Gulf after the drone violated the country's airspace.
The IRGC navy commander announced at the time that the hunted UAV was a ScanEagle drone, adding that "such drones are usually launched from large warships".
ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.
Iran later reproduced its own model of ScanEagle through reverse engineering techniques.
Iran has downed many other US drones as well, and always started reproducing them after conducting reverse engineering on them.
The Iranian model of RQ-170 staged a flight for the media last month.
In relevant remarks in October, General Hajizadeh said that Iran moved as much as 35 years ahead in building drone engines by reverse engineering the US drone, RQ-170 which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011.
The RQ-170 engines are the fifth generation and the engines of Iranian unmanned planes are the third generation, Hajizadeh said, adding that to produce the engine we had to spend 35 years on the project.
He said that the home-made version of the US drone RQ-170 captured by the IRGC would make its maiden flight in the near future.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13931001000880
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"Last week a U-2 spy plane was tracked in the proximity of our country's borders; our missile systems came into action and we warned the aircraft and made it make a U-turn," Gen. Esmayeeli said addressing a students gathering in the Northeastern city of Mashhad Sunday night marking the national Students Day.
The General reminded that U-2 is a stealth aircraft which cannot be picked up by any radar screen in the regional states, "but it was tracked and identified by our systems".
U-2 is an American spy plane which was first built decades ago, but has been redesigned and upgraded in the last 60 years.
Area 51 was a covert CIA facility located in the remote desert of Nevada. For decades, the secretive place created a multitude of conspiracy theories about UFOs and aliens. But in reality the government workers stationed there were busy designing and developing high-altitude spy planes -- most notably the U-2 aircraft.
In August, 2013, many of the details and history around Area 51 and U-2 planes were released in a recently declassified report by the CIA titled "The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974."
General Esmayeeli further noted the shooting down of the Israeli Hermes drone in Summer, and said finding the small drone is like finding needle in a haystack. "We should take good care not to harm passenger planes when identifying and shooting down such drones."
He said the shooting down of the Israeli Hermes drone in August was a product of well-concerted efforts by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Army.
The IRGC Aerospace Force shot down an Israeli spy drone before it could reach Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, in Central Iran late in August.
The Elbit Systems Hermes 450 is an Israeli medium size multi-payload UAV, designed for tactical long endurance missions.
It has a flight endurance of over 20 hours, with a primary mission of reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay.
The IRGC Public Relations Department said in a statement in late August that the Israeli pilotless aircraft was a radar-evading, stealth drone with the mission to spy on Iran's enrichment activities by flying over Natanz nuclear enrichment plant.
The IRGC also pointed out in its statement that the Israeli hostile aircraft was targeted by a surface-to-air missile.
Then senior IRGC officials announced hours later that their experts were decoding the intelligence devices of the Israeli spy drone.
Director of the IRGC's Public Relations Department General Ramezan Sharif told FNA that some of the parts of the downed aircraft were working, "and our experts are studying the information and intelligence of these parts".
"We are now analyzing the information of this plane," he added.
Then, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced a few days later that the Israeli pilotless aircraft was a Hermes-type drone.
"The downed spy drone is Hermes and made in Israel," General Hajizadeh said.
He said the operational range of Hermes drones is 800 kilometers, adding that the aircraft can fly 1,600 kilometers by refueling once.
The General said parts of the aircraft had burnt out after it was targeted by the ground-to-air missiles of the IRGC Aerospace Force and after its fuel tank blast, yet "some parts of this drone are intact and we are now analyzing the information and intel of these parts".
Elaborating on the details of the down Israeli aircraft, the commander further stated that the drone, which is 5.5 meters wide in wings, was equipped with two cameras which could take high-quality photos.
"There was no prior information available about the aircraft and the only one of this type had been downed in Syria, but this one is more advanced," General Hajizadeh said.
A few days later another Hermes drone was hunted in Iraq.
Iran has so far downed several US drones in the last few years. In the most notable case the country announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense forces had downed a US RQ-170 aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack. The drone was the first such loss by the US. US officials have described the loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth drone program.
The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA, US officials admitted in December. The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.
Since December, 2011, Iran has hunted down several more US drones of various types.
In January 2013, a deputy commander of the Iranian Navy announced that the country's Army had hunted two more advanced RQ type UAVs.
"The air-defense units of the Army have hunted two enemy drones," Deputy Commander of the Iranian Navy for Coordination Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari told FNA.
"These drones were from 11th series of the RQ class, and one of them was hunted in Shahrivar 1390 (August 21-September 19, 2011) and the other one in Aban (October 22-November 20, 2012)," Rastegari said, adding that the Army research center is now studying the two UAVs.
"Much of the data of these drones has been decoded by the Army's Jihad and Research Center," he said, but did not provide any further detail.
The remarks by the Iranian commander came after Iran announced on December 4, 2012 that the IRGC Navy had hunted a US UAV over the Persian Gulf after the drone violated the country's airspace.
The IRGC navy commander announced at the time that the hunted UAV was a ScanEagle drone, adding that "such drones are usually launched from large warships".
ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.
Iran later reproduced its own model of ScanEagle through reverse engineering techniques.
Iran has downed many other US drones as well, and always started reproducing them after conducting reverse engineering on them.
The Iranian model of RQ-170 staged a flight for the media last month.
In relevant remarks in October, General Hajizadeh said that Iran moved as much as 35 years ahead in building drone engines by reverse engineering the US drone, RQ-170 which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011.
The RQ-170 engines are the fifth generation and the engines of Iranian unmanned planes are the third generation, Hajizadeh said, adding that to produce the engine we had to spend 35 years on the project.
He said that the home-made version of the US drone RQ-170 captured by the IRGC would make its maiden flight in the near future.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13930917000291
"The western countries, specially the US, are inciting the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms through their Iranophobia plots to spend billions of their petrodollars on purchasing more weapons from them," Mohammed al-Jailani told FNA on Saturday.
He underlined that the US and other western countries intend to tighten their grip on the Middle East region through Iranophobia scenario and intimidating the Persian Gulf states.
"The US and European weapons-manufacturing companies have plundered the national wealth of the Arab countries through multi-billion-dollar military contracts," al-Jailani said.
On Friday, a Syrian university professor underlined that Washington and Tel Aviv are implementing their plots in region with the petrodollars of the Persian Gulf Arab states.
"The US and Israel are killing the Arab citizens of the region with petrodollars of the Persian Gulf Sheikhdoms," Damascus University Professor Wael al-Imam told FNA.
In relevant remarks in November, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Logistics Brigadier General Mostafa Izadi played down the attempts made by the US and its main ally Israel to isolate the Islamic Republic of Iran through spreading Iranophobia across the region.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is emerging as a power across the region today. We are witnessing the signs of Iran's cultural influence in the region,” General Izadi said.
He said that the Islamic Awakening Movements in the region had roots in Iran's Islamic Revolution and the United States that intended to deviate it from its right path in the region did not achieve its objectives.
“The enemy is trying to deviate the Islamic Republic of Iran from its progressive path, including blocking the path of Iran’s influence in the region and presenting a biased image of the Iranian model,” the Iranian commander went on to say.
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