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[LeGenD]

Iran has successfully hacked and landed a MQ-9.

Source?

 

[BHarwana]

Source?

Many sources reported it few days back post the news already in Iran UAV section.

I don't know over which area they hacked it but it was being reported that they took over a MQ-9 drone.

The sources were mostly Iranian and few western. Will search again and post them if I find.

 

[LeGenD]

Many sources reported it few days back post the news already in Iran UAV section.

I don't know over which area they hacked it but it was being reported that they took over a MQ-9 drone.

The sources were mostly Iranian and few western. Will search again and post them if I find.

Please do.

Lot of propaganda on Twitter and Facebook in general. I have seen a Tweet but it is not proof - anybody can claim anything in a Tweet.

 

[BHarwana]

Please do.

Lot of propaganda on Twitter and Facebook in general. I have seen a Tweet but it is not proof - anybody can claim anything in a Tweet.

It was not tweet but news and claim was made by irgc commander. I read it few days back. I think it is authentic.

 

[LeGenD]

It was not tweet but news and claim was made by irgc commander. I read it few days back. I think it is authentic.

Could be propaganda?

There are some Tweets - nothing concrete. Not even a photo.

This is something: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/...-to-have-shot-down-us-says-it-simply-crashed/

This is something: https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2017/10/02/us-mq-9-drone-shot-down-in-yemen/

The alleged hacking incident in 2011 is a one-off (and still spark debates); drones are known to develop technical faults and crash at times (they are unmanned machines after all).

MQ-9 Reaper have proved resilient to Russian EW capabilities in Syria (in case you didn't knew). A crash is possible due to a technical fault, but a crash inside Iran?

 

[Hack-Hook]

"A video has been released showing the downing of the Iranian drone. It appears to be a flying-wing configuration. In particular, Iran has been working to build similar shaped unmanned aircraft as the stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel it captured in 2011, although these knock-off craft, which come in various sizes and configurations, are far less advanced than their American counterpart. The propeller-driven "Simorgh" variant of the design appears to best match the aircraft shown in the video being shot down, although the video is low quality so it's hard to make the identification definitively.

well till today I believed that Simorgh is jet powered not propeller driven .

Could be propaganda?

There are some Tweets - nothing concrete. Not even a photo.

This is something: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/...-to-have-shot-down-us-says-it-simply-crashed/

This is something: https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2017/10/02/us-mq-9-drone-shot-down-in-yemen/

The alleged hacking incident in 2011 is a one-off (and still spark debates); drones are known to develop technical faults and crash at times (they are unmanned machines after all).

MQ-9 Reaper have proved resilient to Russian EW capabilities in Syria (in case you didn't knew). A crash is possible due to a technical fault, but a crash inside Iran?

If you look at news from the time , Iran hacking was not just electronic warfare it was consisted of some malware inside the control center of Us drones

 

[LeGenD]

If you look at news from the time , Iran hacking was not just electronic warfare it was consisted of some malware inside the control center of Us drones

And how a malware got there in the first place? It cannot get there without somebody having access to it, which is not possible for an outsider.

UAV command, control & communications centers of the US military are absolutely OFF-LIMITS to potential outsiders and visitors:

"It was midday, September 2009, and I was in the Box, a secret windowless bunker at the edge of an undisclosed military base south of Mosul, Iraq, not far from the Syrian border, staring at eight flat-screen TVs on the wall, stacked in two rows of four, the shittiest Best Buy you’ve ever seen.

Some of the screens streamed live camera feeds from the Predator drone: current altitude, speed, missile laser target designator system, and detailed map of the land below. Others flashed pictures of our targets, their families, and their complex terrorist networks, which spanned the globe. Much of this came courtesy of intelligence agency experts at my side."

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/control-predator-drone-brett-velicovich/

And networks are secure (non-commercial):

"UAV engineers must also ascribe a high priority to security, Palmer says. "Secure communication links are vital for UAV operation, both to control the UAV based on mission objectives and to deliver data reliably to mission controllers on the ground. Encryption and decryption are inherent requirements, adding complexity and cost in the UAV electronics."

Source: https://www.militaryaerospace.com/a...eport/uav-command-control-communications.html

Kindly do your homework. It is easy to rip through Iranian state propaganda when you get a handle on how things work in reality.

 

[BHarwana]

Could be propaganda?

There are some Tweets - nothing concrete. Not even a photo.

This is something: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/...-to-have-shot-down-us-says-it-simply-crashed/

This is something: https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2017/10/02/us-mq-9-drone-shot-down-in-yemen/

The alleged hacking incident in 2011 is a one-off (and still spark debates); drones are known to develop technical faults and crash at times (they are unmanned machines after all).

MQ-9 Reaper have proved resilient to Russian EW capabilities in Syria (in case you didn't knew). A crash is possible due to a technical fault, but a crash inside Iran?

@LeGenD do you know how drones are hacked?
Have you ever heard of zero day exploits?
Drones have computers and like every program in digital world there are loop holes. For example do you know how first USA drone was hacked? The term was given GPS snooping but what actually happened and this is not a news but rather my personal opinion which I developed from debating online. There is an altitude meter in every drone which assists the auto pilot to kick in once the Sat connection is lost. Now losing Sat connection is very easy but to hijack a drone is all you have to do is not to hack communication but to make the altitude meter think that altitude has dropped and the auto pilot will kick in and deploy the landing gear. The drone will land may be damaged because of rough terrain landing but mostly you will get the drone in tact to copy it or gather intelligence. This is nothing hard and I have only mentioned one exploit and there are hundreds of them. USA works constantly to upgrade them but this is a very big field to cover. So in simple words shit happens.

Could be propaganda?

There are some Tweets - nothing concrete. Not even a photo.

This is something: https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/...-to-have-shot-down-us-says-it-simply-crashed/

This is something: https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2017/10/02/us-mq-9-drone-shot-down-in-yemen/

The alleged hacking incident in 2011 is a one-off (and still spark debates); drones are known to develop technical faults and crash at times (they are unmanned machines after all).

MQ-9 Reaper have proved resilient to Russian EW capabilities in Syria (in case you didn't knew). A crash is possible due to a technical fault, but a crash inside Iran?

@LeGenD do you know how drones are hacked?
Have you ever heard of zero day exploits?
Drones have computers and like every program in digital world there are loop holes. For example do you know how first USA drone was hacked? The term was given GPS snooping but what actually happened and this is not a news but rather my personal opinion which I developed from debating online. There is an altitude meter in every drone which assists the auto pilot to kick in once the Sat connection is lost. Now losing Sat connection is very easy but to hijack a drone is all you have to do is not to hack communication but to make the altitude meter think that altitude has dropped and the auto pilot will kick in and deploy the landing gear. The drone will land may be damaged because of rough terrain landing but mostly you will get the drone in tact to copy it or gather intelligence. This is nothing hard and I have only mentioned one exploit and there are hundreds of them. USA works constantly to upgrade them but this is a very big field to cover. So in simple words shit happens.

 

[AZADPAKISTAN2009]

The reaper might be emitting , signals to Americans tell them location of the underground facility

 

[T-72B]

No evidence provided so far.


Israeli defenses picked on and took out an Iranian drone (a clone of the American RQ-170 Sentinel variant, in the hands of Iran), near Syrian border in 2018.

FYI: https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...42a0b2-0f13-11e8-8ea1-c1d91fcec3fe_story.html

That incident suggests that Iranian copies are not at par with their American counterpart in LO and otherwise. I wonder why this is the case.

American RQ-170 Sentinel variants have excellent infiltration rates under the right conditions. Newer variants are superior to the variant in the hands of Iran by the way.

Lol the drone that Israelis captured is RQ-170 clone but it’s using piston engine

 

[Hack-Hook]

And how a malware got there in the first place? It cannot get there without somebody having access to it, which is not possible for an outsider.

If you knew how legit users can be tricked doing the job. You yourself how many time attached your personal thumb drive to work computer. Hillary Clinton had high level of security probably a lot higher than any operator or maintenance guy but did she not made a mistake.
By the way the infected computers were inside a base in mainland USA not control room inside Iraq.

 

[LeGenD]

If you knew how legit users can be tricked doing the job. You yourself how many time attached your personal thumb drive to work computer. Hillary Clinton had high level of security probably a lot higher than any operator or maintenance guy but did she not made a mistake.
By the way the infected computers were inside a base in mainland USA not control room inside Iraq.

Human error is definitely possible. My point is that arguments should make sense, and not grounded in disinformation and/or wrong dots should not be connected.

You might be referring to a malicious keylogger infection incident in the UAV command & control center of the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada in 2011.

[1] https://www.csoonline.com/article/2...et-keylogger-infection--how-d-it-happen-.html
[2] https://www.wired.com/2011/10/virus-hits-drone-fleet/
[3] https://www.military.com/defensetech/2011/10/08/air-force-uav-controls-infected-with-virus

That breach was eventually plugged, and security measures are more stringent then ever since. Who was responsible for that breach, is not public knowledge but a contractor was suspected. Nevertheless, human error is always possible even in the face of extensive training and measures.

Still this breach does not lend credibility to alleged hacking of an RQ-170 variant over Iran because this theory have its own share of loopholes and leaps in logic. Food for thought below.

[1] https://theaviationist.com/2016/10/...modeled-on-captured-u-s-rq-170-stealth-drone/
[2] https://aegistg.com/who-tracked-hacked-n-jacked

As I pointed out earlier, machines can develop technical faults at times, and can crash (or even crash-land). However, state-sponsored propaganda have its value; unfortunately it becomes larger than life and overcomes conventional wisdom at times.

---

Hillary Clinton's story have its own share of loopholes; it was most likely an inside job to frame Donald Trump.

---

@BHarwana

 

[TheImmortal]

Iran already unveiled next gen Shahed that is loosely based on MQ-9.

This leads me to believe the Reaper(s) were probably captured long ago.

Not sure if it will see mass production as Iran has avoided large UAV designs (See Fotros UAV project). The exception being the RQ series.

Iran’s Shahed UAV lack carrying a heavy payload at this point.

The lack of wartime access to GPS will limit the development of long range Iranian drones. Relying on ground radar stations is not good enough.

 

[AmirPatriot]

One thing is clear that this drone was fairly advanced - independent experts and IDF have admitted as such.

Sure, but its diminutive size and propulsion indicate it's not the most advanced variant of Iran's RQ-170 copy.

I fail to see a solid reason to doubt revelations from IDF because they have the wreckage, and inspected it from all angles.

Well a few days later Natanyahu went on TV basically saying evil Iran wanted to blow up Jewish babies with suicide drones, so there is a clear political motive there. A solid reason to doubt.

And I'll remind you that there are no "revelations" here of any armed nature to the UAV. If you demand proof that Iran captured an MQ-9 then you must demand proof that the UAV sent to the Golan was packed with explosives.

Iran might have developed a better drone by now - possible.

Not just possible, they were used in combat over Syria. This video tells you all you need to know - jet powered, armed, big enough for internal bays.

It is possible that Iran smuggled the remains of a crashed MQ-9 Reaper from Afghanistan, but I am not in the position to verify this claim. I believe that Americans would be careful after the loss of an RQ-170 variant over Iran in 2011.

Since Iran hasn't said how it acquired the drone, this is possible. Indeed, if it crashed and showed signs of damage, showing images would give away how it was captured. We can only speculate since there is no proof as of yet.

 

[TheImmortal]

The RQ that Israel shot down was a rudimentary version of RQ. The smallest version with a propeller and had its payload exposed underneath the belly which would increase RCS significantly.

You can see the version that was likely used in original pictures of RQ clones.