US spy drone

[KaliKev]

Originally Posted by Longhorn248

The drone is an airplane, however it's a flying wing design similar to the B2 stealth bomber. This type of aircraft without a tail fin or horizontal stabilizers require sophisticated computers to make minute adjustments to the control surfaces in order to keep the aircraft in the air. If the on board computer had failed it may have gone into a flat spiral and hit the ground, but there's no way it simply glided in for a landing.

I'm going to disagree with you on that one, its a possibility, however I used to own a R/C glider that was a single wing just like the drone that flew perfectly without any inputs.

I guess its all speculation...

[Longhorn248]

Originally Posted by KaliKev

I'm going to disagree with you on that one, its a possibility, however I used to own a R/C glider that was a single wing just like the drone that flew perfectly without any inputs.

I guess its all speculation...

It may be a possibility, obviously technology has advanced since the design and construction of the B2's. Pretty much anything we come up with regarding how the drone went down is going to be speculation. Any info coming from Iran is going to be propaganda and any information from our own government is going to be cleaned up to omit any classified information.

[Giccin]

I didn't know about this until... now. Lol

I was watching NBA clips. O_O

[Dimman]

Conspiracy possibility #2: Drone electronics and structure is filled with fancy GPS transmitters, and when the Iranians dis-assemble it and take the parts to now-formerly-secret R&D facilities, Mossad will, um... totally not blow those up either, like that rocket facility that they, er... had nothing to do with.

US, UK and Israel are f'ing with Iran rather hard.

[tranzformer]

I mean the US couldn't be that dumb to allow one of their new (less than 2 yrs old) stealth spy drones really get captures by the bad guys? Right? I mean we have more faith in our military and intelligence services than that? Or maybe they really are that inept sometimes?

[KaliKev]

We have hundreds of drones flying over there. I am really not surprised this happened.

[KaliKev]

Originally Posted by Dimman

Conspiracy possibility #2: Drone electronics and structure is filled with fancy GPS transmitters, and when the Iranians dis-assemble it and take the parts to now-formerly-secret R&D facilities, Mossad will, um... totally not blow those up either, like that rocket facility that they, er... had nothing to do with.

US, UK and Israel are f'ing with Iran rather hard.

You are giving the government too much credit and we most likely already know all of those locations...

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by KaliKev

We have hundreds of drones flying over there. I am really not surprised this happened.

So then this must be calculated as part of their risk assessment when using the latest technology in certain parts of the world? In other words, they must have realized this could potentially happen one day and if it did they would be ok with it? Otherwise wouldn't they want to protect that information (even if it is the build process) from getting into Iran's hands and eventually in Chinese and Russian hands?

[Dimman]

Originally Posted by tranzformer

I mean the US couldn't be that dumb to allow one of their new (less than 2 yrs old) stealth spy drones really get captures by the bad guys? Right? I mean we have more faith in our military and intelligence services than that? Or maybe they really are that inept sometimes?

Probably sometimes, but also fantastically devious most of the other times. And this combination will mean that their opposition will have to question everything that happens. Is this a trap or do they now have access to the latest and greatest US tech to reverse-engineer? No Admiral Ackbar (sp? the Star Wars guy...) to warn them.

For example, in the olden days the US blew up a huge section of the USSR's natural gas pipeline or a refinery or something like that. How they did it was that there was a known mole in a Canadian energy company who managed to get a hold of some 'latest and greatest' valves or something. But it was planned and had an engineered-in design flaw that had a life of a few years. So, the Soviets technically blew up their own pipeline.

Stuff like this is old news for the CIA. So who knows what this drone situation really is?

[KaliKev]

Originally Posted by tranzformer

So then this must be calculated as part of their risk assessment when using the latest technology in certain parts of the world? In other words, they must have realized this could potentially happen one day and if it did they would be ok with it? Otherwise wouldn't they want to protect that information (even if it is the build process) from getting into Iran's hands and eventually in Chinese and Russian hands?

It's not like this is super secret alien technology. Russia and China already have stealth technology. What else can they learn? How our cameras work?

The only major concern is what type of spying capabilities we have but even that is not too big of a concern.

I'm more concerned that WE ARE FLYING DRONES IN ANOTHER COUNTRY

[Longhorn248]

Originally Posted by KaliKev

You are giving the government too much credit and we most likely already know all of those locations...

+1 Having first hand experience, I'm not surprised when stories of governmental ineptitude surface.

Originally Posted by tranzformer

So then this must be calculated as part of their risk assessment when using the latest technology in certain parts of the world? In other words, they must have realized this could potentially happen one day and if it did they would be ok with it? Otherwise wouldn't they want to protect that information (even if it is the build process) from getting into Iran's hands and eventually in Chinese and Russian hands?

I'm 99% certain that this possibility was known during the risk assessment phase of the mission. The big problem was when the president passed up on multiple options he was given in order to destroy the drone and keep it out of Iran's possession.

Originally Posted by KaliKev

It's not like this is super secret alien technology. Russia and China already have stealth technology. What else can they learn? How our cameras work?

The only major concern is what type of spying capabilities we have but even that is not too big of a concern.

I'm more concerned that WE ARE FLYING DRONES IN ANOTHER COUNTRY

I have a hunch that the lens and camera technology utilized to get detailed pictures of installations from 50k feet are pretty advanced, and more than likely classified.

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by Longhorn248

+1 Having first hand experience, I'm not surprised when stories of governmental ineptitude surface.



I'm 99% certain that this possibility was known during the risk assessment phase of the mission. The big problem was when the president passed up on multiple options he was given in order to destroy the drone and keep it out of Iran's possession.



I have a hunch that the lens and camera technology utilized to get detailed pictures of installations from 50k feet are pretty advanced, and more than likely classified.

Yes about the lens and I'm sure the propulsion and avionics are classified.

[Guff]

Why can't everyone just be friends?

[old greg]

Originally Posted by Longhorn248

I have a hunch that the lens and camera technology utilized to get detailed pictures of installations from 50k feet are pretty advanced, and more than likely classified.

Not really, it's not as if it's carrying a DSLR. It's just a combination of a very large lens and a very large sensor. Much too bulky/heavy to be practical on the ground, but in a plane with an ~85' wingspan it works just fine.

Originally Posted by tranzformer

I'm sure the propulsion and avionics are classified.

Definitely the avionics, but the engines are plain-jane turbofans that have been around forever. It's the same engine that's used on the A-10 actually.