Legislator: Capture of US Drone Shows Iran’s Advancement in Air Defense

A senior Iranian lawmaker praised the country’s Armed Forces for hunting an intruding US drone over the Persian Gulf, and said it showed Iran’s progress in air defense.

Member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Mohammad Esmayeeli said on Thursday that capturing a US drone in the Persian Gulf proved Iran’s capabilities to defend the country’s airspace.

He said that by entering the Iranian airspace for the second time, the US officials repeated their mistake and manifested their aggressive nature once again.

The Americans thought that the capture of the US RQ-170 drone that happened last year was just an accident, Esmaeili said adding that the repetition of such a success two days ago indicated Iran’s great defense capabilities to react to any aggressions.

The enemies, he added, should know that any violation of Iran’s airspace or its sea territories will be strongly responded.

Iran announced Tuesday that it has hunted a new US drone over the country’s airspace.

Commander of the IRGC Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi announced that his forces captured a US ScanEagle Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) over the Persian Gulf after the drone violated the country’s airspace.

The UAV which had conducted several reconnaissance flights over the Persian Gulf general zone in the past few days was caught and brought under control by air defense units and control systems of the IRGC Navy.

ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle built by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.

As standard payload ScanEagle carries either an inertially stabilized electro-optical or an infrared camera. The gimbaled camera allows the operator to easily track both stationary and moving targets, providing real-time intelligence.

Capable of flying above 16,000 feet, the UAV has also demonstrated the ability to provide persistent low-altitude reconnaissance.

The development came exactly a year after Iran announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense forces had downed a US RQ-170 drone through a sophisticated cyber attack.