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Author Topic: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf  (Read 3296 times)

kgbsquirrel

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Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« on: November 13, 2012, 12:40:50 PM »
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RoadKingLarry

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #1 on: November 13, 2012, 12:41:49 PM »
Has Obama apologized yet?
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SADShooter

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #2 on: November 13, 2012, 12:45:57 PM »
Quote from: RoadKingLarry on November 13, 2012, 12:41:49 PM
Has Obama apologized yet?

Not yet. We're just at the "please stop, we ask nicely" stage.
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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #3 on: November 13, 2012, 12:52:54 PM »
Quote from: RoadKingLarry on November 13, 2012, 12:41:49 PM
Has Obama apologized yet?

He's got to bow first.
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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #4 on: November 13, 2012, 01:22:04 PM »
This story was public before the election but, curiously, it never was covered by the MSM.
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Blakenzy

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #5 on: November 13, 2012, 08:08:15 PM »
Well, the US is at war with Iran, some shooting is bound to happen. I just wonder if they missed on purpose or are really just a danger to themselves.
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Regolith

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #6 on: November 13, 2012, 08:26:59 PM »
Quote from: Blakenzy on November 13, 2012, 08:08:15 PM
Well, the US is at war with Iran, some shooting is bound to happen. I just wonder if they missed on purpose or are really just a danger to themselves.

Cruising speed for a drone is 360 mph, with a top speed of 555mph. They also aren't really known for their agility. If they missed a drone at cruising speed, and it wasn't on purpose, then Iran really is a paper tiger. That's just pathetic.
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Ben

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #7 on: November 13, 2012, 08:49:00 PM »
Quote from: Regolith on November 13, 2012, 08:26:59 PM
Cruising speed for a drone is 360 mph, with a top speed of 555mph. They also aren't really known for their agility. If they missed a drone at cruising speed, and it wasn't on purpose, then Iran really is a paper tiger. That's just pathetic.

Not if it's the drone in the linked article pic. Top speed would be A LOT slower.
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birdman

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #8 on: November 13, 2012, 08:54:45 PM »
Quote from: Ben on November 13, 2012, 08:49:00 PM
Not if it's the drone in the linked article pic. Top speed would be A LOT slower.

Agreed, a MQ-1 is 100 KTAS or so cruise! 120 top.
A reaper (which it wasn't) is about twice as fast.

Most aircraft capable of shooting down a drone can't even fly that SLOW.
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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #9 on: November 13, 2012, 09:13:06 PM »
Quote from: Blakenzy on November 13, 2012, 08:08:15 PM
Well, the US is at war with Iran, some shooting is bound to happen. I just wonder if they missed on purpose or are really just a danger to themselves.

We are at war with Iran?
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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2012, 09:19:55 PM »
Quote from: Fly320s on November 13, 2012, 09:13:06 PM
We are at war with Iran?

Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia
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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #11 on: November 13, 2012, 09:25:32 PM »
Some Iranians took a pot shot at Joe Biden and the media didn't cover it?
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Regolith

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #12 on: November 13, 2012, 09:45:48 PM »
Quote from: Ben on November 13, 2012, 08:49:00 PM
Not if it's the drone in the linked article pic. Top speed would be A LOT slower.

That makes it worse.  :facepalm:

I was trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.  :rofl:
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kgbsquirrel

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #13 on: November 14, 2012, 03:09:08 AM »
The Iranians sent a couple Frogfoots after it. The Sukhoi Su-25. It's like the dimwitted little brother of the A-10 that ate paint chips growing up, so I'm not really surprised.

ETA: Also, educated guess on the drone, since the story says it was flying along the Iranian national waters boundary at a distance of 16 miles from the coast, I'm betting it wasn't a Predator. Typically when we want to sneak a peek into another country *coughpakistan* without actually entering it, we have two choices: Re-tasking a spy satellite (really expensive), or sending up a Globalhawk to run up and down the border while peering into their country from 60,000+ feet.

If it was a Globalhawk or a Reaper the Su-25 wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell of taking it down.
« Last Edit: November 14, 2012, 03:21:00 AM by kgbsquirrel »
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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #14 on: November 14, 2012, 04:59:23 AM »
Quote from: Fly320s on November 13, 2012, 09:13:06 PM
We are at war with Iran?

Iirc, they declared war on us some years back.
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MicroBalrog

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #15 on: November 14, 2012, 08:59:00 AM »
Quote from: kgbsquirrel on November 14, 2012, 03:09:08 AM
The Iranians sent a couple Frogfoots after it. The Sukhoi Su-25. It's like the dimwitted little brother of the A-10 that ate paint chips growing up, so I'm not really surprised.


What now.

SU-25 is a perfectly decent CAS plane.
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kgbsquirrel

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #16 on: November 14, 2012, 01:35:19 PM »
Quote from: MicroBalrog on November 14, 2012, 08:59:00 AM
What now.

SU-25 is a perfectly decent CAS plane.

It lacks certain survivability traits as compared to the A-10 such as having it's engines low mounted and tucked in close to the main fuselage. Also with the intakes low to the ground it's more susceptible to FOD when operating from improvised air fields. The cockpit is rather cramped and with how low the pilot sits visibility is impaired. And while I'm having trouble digging up a current source I seem to recall reading about flaws in the flight control system, mainly dealing with high speed maneuvers and pilots having difficulty pulling out of a diving attack run.

Now, all this isn't to say that the aircraft version of Gomer Pyle can't get medieval on your sorry ground-pounding butt and absolutely ruin your day, but compared to the A-10 it is an inferior craft. And the Iranians trying to use it as an air-to-air interceptor was just stupid.
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Scout26

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #17 on: November 14, 2012, 01:39:23 PM »
That they missed doesn't surprise me.  Air-to-air combat requires training and practice.  Getting a plane (even a POS like the Frogfoot) requires a bunch of maintenance to get it up into the air.  If you don't put it up in the air, it requires a lot less maintenance.   Maintenance costs $$$.  Hence, many poorer/cheaper countries do not really use their airplanes unless they have to.  Therefore the pilots don't get in much practice and generally are no better then flying targets and suck at air-to-air combat.  
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MicroBalrog

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #18 on: November 14, 2012, 02:26:56 PM »
Is it inferior to the A-10 ? I am sure it is.

But I am not sure that makes it this terribly crippled (just like being weaker than the world champion weightlifter doesn't mean you're a wimp), especially in newer versions [which the Iranians do not have], which are filled up with electronics and are rigged to carry long-range guided munitions.

On the other hand, this being Iran, their SU-25s were probably ill-maintainied, outdated the day they were sold to them 20 years ago, and piloted by crappy pilots.
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birdman

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #19 on: November 14, 2012, 07:41:13 PM »
Quote from: kgbsquirrel on November 14, 2012, 03:09:08 AM
The Iranians sent a couple Frogfoots after it. The Sukhoi Su-25. It's like the dimwitted little brother of the A-10 that ate paint chips growing up, so I'm not really surprised.

ETA: Also, educated guess on the drone, since the story says it was flying along the Iranian national waters boundary at a distance of 16 miles from the coast, I'm betting it wasn't a Predator. Typically when we want to sneak a peek into another country *coughpakistan* without actually entering it, we have two choices: Re-tasking a spy satellite (really expensive), or sending up a Globalhawk to run up and down the border while peering into their country from 60,000+ feet.

If it was a Globalhawk or a Reaper the Su-25 wouldn't have a snowballs chance in hell of taking it down.

No way in hell we would risk a global hawk that close to Iran.  Predators are cheap.  GH...not so much.
It was a predator.
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kgbsquirrel

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #20 on: November 14, 2012, 07:57:03 PM »
Quote from: birdman on November 14, 2012, 07:41:13 PM
No way in hell we would risk a global hawk that close to Iran.  Predators are cheap.  GH...not so much.
It was a predator.

Predator isn't suited for long distance viewing out to the horizon.
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Ben

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #21 on: November 14, 2012, 10:34:53 PM »
I dunno, I've seen some pretty impressive EO/IR out of a >20K' Predator. What the tasked drone was likely depends much on the specific mission, which most none of us will ever hear about. :)
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birdman

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #22 on: November 14, 2012, 11:13:46 PM »
Quote from: kgbsquirrel on November 14, 2012, 07:57:03 PM
Predator isn't suited for long distance viewing out to the horizon.

You would be surprised. 
In any case, it wasn't a global hawk, it was a predator.
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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #23 on: November 14, 2012, 11:21:34 PM »
Some assets are forbidden by law from being shot down in hostile territory.

I am not making that up.
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kgbsquirrel

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Re: Iran shoots at U.S. drone over Persian Gulf
« Reply #24 on: November 14, 2012, 11:39:05 PM »
Quote from: birdman on November 14, 2012, 11:13:46 PM
You would be surprised. 
In any case, it wasn't a global hawk, it was a predator.

No I wouldn't, I worked with them.  ;) For flying 16 miles from a coastline and trying to peer in it is not the correct tool for the job.
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