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Monday, August 25, 2014
IRGC Aerospace Commander: Downed Israeli Spy Drone A Hermes Type

Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:55
IRGC Aerospace Commander: Downed Israeli Spy Drone A Hermes Type
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=3D13930603000727

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Israeli pilotless aircraft which was shot down yesterday =

was a Hermes-type drone, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps =

(IRGC) Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced on =

Monday.

"The downed spy drone is Hermes and made in Israel," General Hajizadeh said =

on Monday.

He said the operational range of Hermes drones is 800 kilometers, adding =

that the aircraft can fly 1,600 kilometers by refueling once.

The General said parts of the aircraft have burnt out after it was targeted =

by the ground-to-air missiles of the IRGC Aerospace Force and after its fue=
l =

tank blast, yet "some parts of this drone are intact and we are now =

analyzing the information and intel of these parts".

Elaborating on the details of the down Israeli aircraft, the commander =

further stated that the drone, which is 5.5 meters wide in wings, is =

equipped with two cameras which can take high-quality photos.

"There was no prior information available about the aircraft and the only =

one of this type had been downed in Syria, but this one is more advanced," =

General Hajizadeh said.

The Elbit Systems Hermes 450 is an Israeli medium size multi-payload UAV, =

designed for tactical long endurance missions.

It has a flight endurance of over 20 hours, with a primary mission of =

reconnaissance, surveillance and communications relay.

The IRGC Aerospace Force shot down an Israeli spy drone before it could =

reach Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, in Central Iran, on Sunday.

On Sunday, the IRGC Public Relations Department said in a statement that th=
e =

Israeli pilotless aircraft was a radar-evading, stealth drone with the =

mission to spy on Iran's enrichment activities by flying over Natanz nuclea=
r =

enrichment plant.

The IRGC also pointed out in its statement that the Israeli hostile aircraf=
t =

has been targeted by a surface-to-air missile.

"This mischievous attempt once again made the adventurous nature of the =

Zionist regime more evident and added another black page to the dark record =

of this fake and warmongering regime, which is full of crimes and =

wickedness," the statement added.

The IRGC further warned that it "preserves the right of response and =

retaliation for itself".

It also noted that the IRGC alongside other Armed Forces of the Islamic =

Republic is fully and resolutely ready to defend the noble Iranian nation =

and Islamic Iran.

Senior IRGC officials announced later last night that IRGC experts are =

decoding the intelligence devices of the Israeli spy drone that they shot =

down in Central Iran earlier yesterday.

Director of the IRGC's Public Relations Department General Ramezan Sharif =

told FNA on Sunday night that some of the parts of the downed aircraft are =

working, "and our experts are studying the information and intelligence of =

these parts".

"We are now analyzing the information of this plane," he added.

Gen. Sharif further mentioned that Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force =

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh will soon reveal more details on the =

spy drone and the way it has been hunted down by his forces.
Iran has so far downed several US drones in the last few years. In the most =

notable case the country announced on December 4, 2011 that its defense =

forces had downed a US RQ-170 aircraft through a sophisticated cyber attack=
. =

The drone was the first such loss by the US. US officials have described th=
e =

loss of the aircraft in Iran as a setback and a fatal blow to the stealth =

drone program.
The aircraft is among the highly sensitive surveillance platform in the =

CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to evade enemy defenses.

Since December, 2011, Iran has hunted down several more US drones of variou=
s =

types.

In January 2013, a deputy commander of the Iranian Navy announced that the =

country's Army had hunted two more advanced RQ type UAVs.

"The air-defense units of the Army have hunted two enemy drones," Deputy =

Commander of the Iranian Navy for Coordination Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari =

told FNA.

"These drones were from 11th series of the RQ class, and one of them was =

hunted in Shahrivar 1390 (August 21-September 19, 2011) and the other one i=
n =

Aban (October 22-November 20, 2012)," Rastegari said, adding that the Army =

research center is now studying the two UAVs.

"Much of the data of these drones has been decoded by the Army's Jihad and =

Research Center," he said, but did not provide any further detail.

The remarks by the Iranian commander came after Iran announced on December =

4, 2012 that the IRGC Navy had hunted a US UAV over the Persian Gulf after =

the drone violated the country's airspace.

The IRGC navy commander announced at the time that the hunted UAV was a =

ScanEagle drone, adding that "such drones are usually launched from large =

warships".

ScanEagle is a small, low-cost, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle buil=
t =

by Insitu, a subsidiary of Boeing.

Iran later reproduced its own model of ScanEagle through reverse engineerin=
g =

techniques.

Iran has downed many other US drones as well, and they have always started =

reproducing them after conducting reverse engineering on them.

The unmanned surveillance plane lost by the United States in Iran was a =

stealth aircraft being used for secret missions by the CIA, US officials =

admitted in December. The aircraft is among the highly sensitive =

surveillance platform in the CIA's fleet that was shaped and designed to =

evade enemy defenses.

In December, Lieutenant Commander of the IRGC Brigadier General Hossein =

Salami announced that the Iranian version of the US drone, RQ-170, would be =

unveiled to the public soon.

=93The construction of this drone will finish soon and most of the job has =

been done now,=94 General Salami told reporters on the sidelines of a =

conference in Tehran in December, 2013.

In relevant remarks in October, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force =

Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said that Iran moved as much as 35 =

years ahead in building drone engines by reverse engineering the US drone, =

RQ-170 which was tracked and hunted down in Iran late in 2011.

The RQ-170 engines are the fifth generation and the engines of Iranian =

unmanned planes are the third generation, Hajizadeh said, adding that to =

produce the engine we had to spend 35 years on the project.

He said that the home-made version of the US drone RQ-170 captured by the =

IRGC would make its maiden flight in the near future.

In April, 2013, a senior Iranian parliamentary official announced that Iran =

has reverse engineered the RQ-170, adding that the Iranian version of the =

drone would soon have a test flight.

"The brave personnel of the Armed Forces hunted down the drone with their =

knowledge and science and the Americans protested immediately and called fo=
r =

the return of the UAV," Chairman of the parliament's National Security and =

Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said in the Northern city of =

Rasht last April.

Iran has downed several US drones so far and Boroujerdi did not mention =

which one he meant, but explained, "The reverse engineering started =

immediately (by the Iranian experts after hunting down the US UAV) and the =

Iranian type of the US drone will fly in Iran's Aerospace Organization soon =

which shows the Islamic Republic's might and power." =

________________________________________
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rab-Israeli relations

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