U.S. Drone on CIA Mission Before Crashing Into Iran: Officials
The American stealth drone that fell into the hands of the Iranian military late last week was on a mission for the CIA when it went down, U.S. officials told ABC News today.
The officials said it was unclear what mission the RQ-170 Sentinel
unarmed aircraft was performing when it went down and where exactly it
was flying. While Iranian officials were quoted in local media as
claiming the drone had entered Iranian airspace, the International
Security Assistance Force said in a statement Monday that the drone had
been flying over western Afghanistan when its operators lost control.
U.S. military officials contradicted Iranian officials who also reportedly claimed
the drone had been "shot down" and that the Iranian military's
electronic warfare unit had helped bring the RQ-170 down with little
damage.
Pentagon Capt. John Kirby told reporters Monday there was no indication
the drone was shot down, nor was it brought down by "hostile activity of
any kind" -- ruling out possible cyber attack or electronic jamming.
The military considered the incident strictly an unfortunate accident
with a malfunctioning drone, Kirby and Pentagon spokesperson George
Little said. One U.S. official said today that after the drone's crash, a
host of courses of action were considered, including possibly going
into Iran to recover the craft. However, that option was dismissed, as
well as several others.
The RQ-170, developed by defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin and dubbed "The Beast of Kandahar" by Aviation Week's Bill Sweetman, is one of America's most sophisticated surveillance drones and was only acknowledged to exist by the Air Force in 2010.
The bat-wing shaped craft is designed to dodge enemy radar and slip
unnoticed into hostile territory to gather information or support
operations on the ground. It was reportedly used
to keep tabs on the man believed to be Osama bin Laden during the Navy
SEAL mission that took out the terror leader in Pakistan in May.
NBC News first reported the role of the CIA in the downed drone Monday.
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