Iranian Military VK site professes the US drone was shot down over Iranian airspace and of pictures of the wreckage proving the incursion. The drone was an RQ-4A Global Hawk High-Altitude, Long, Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).
A minor problem is that this was from an Israeli Hermes 450 UAV crash in Lebanon in 2018.
https://www.aviationanalysis.net/2018/03/israeli-hermes-450-uav-crashes-in.html
https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/171210-180331-israeli-drone-crashes-in-lebanon-hezbollah-s-al-manar-tv and http://www.southafrica.netizen24.com/2018/03/netizen-24-zaf-israeli-drone-crashes-in_31.html
Something to keep in mind:
- The Straits of Hormuz are but 21 nautical miles across at its most narrow point. With international waters recognized to 21 nautical miles, whose side are you on at any given time? To enter Persian Gulf ships must pass through Iranian territorial waters. In addition, the island of Hormuz belongs to Iran. As expected the Arab Persian Gulf states would like to dispute who owns the strait.
- That being said, Anything that files in the air above the Straits could be considered Iranian airspace. The Strait of Hormuz has been the scene of a stand-off between Iran and the United States before. On 18 April 1988, the U.S. Navy waged a one-day battle against Iranian forces in and around the strait. The battle, dubbed Operation Praying Mantis by the U.S. side, was launched in retaliation for the mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts on 14 April by Iran. U.S. forces sank one Islamic Republic of Iran Navy frigate, one gunboat, and as many as six armed speedboats in the engagement and seriously damaged a second frigate. Parallels are starting to show https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1989/may/surface-view-operation-praying-mantis
For more information on Iranian military capabilities:
- https://iran-military.com
- https://theiranproject.com/blog/tag/iranian-military/
- https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=iran
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