Middle East Focus: 2011: Year of the Drones War……..

Arabia Deserta

2011: Year of the Drones War……..

Rattlesnake Ridge

BFF

The year 2011 started with drones.
I wrote here one year ago about the Iranians shooting down two foreign drones over the Persian-American Gulf (actually the Iranian IRGC claimed to have shot down many “spy and ultra-modern aircraft”). I commented:

“They could have been American or Israeli drones launched from “some” neighboring country. They could have been ‘real’ drones with real goals/targets. They could have been ‘decoy’ drones to test the variables of Iranian reaction. They could have been drones used in psychological warfare. They could have been some UAE drones (they may have them: their potentates have been buying every frigging weapon they see, short of WMD). They could have been remote control airplanes some Iranian kids got for Christmas (okay, for Nou-ruz, the Iranian New Year)….....”

Just before the year 2011 ended, drones made the headlines again, but in a big way. Iran reported the downing (by hacking) of a stealth American RQ-170 drone intact over its territory. U.S. officials hesitated but were eventually pressured to admit the drone was shot down while spying over Iran. I commented that:

”The Iranians have been building their own drones for some time, although it is not clear how sophisticated they are. Now they may have a chance to "improve" on them, provided they can take advantage of the technology on the RQ-170. Failing that, they will probably seek to get help from China or Russia to decipher some of the equipment. Failing that.....”

Between these two news items, throughout the year there were reports of Iranians developing their own more advanced drones. There were also reports of Hezbollah possessing some drones (although I am not sure how accurate these reports were). There were reports of Israeli drones. This new war of drones is just starting, between Iran on one side and the United States and Israel on the other side.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com