Iran shows video it claims was extracted from CIA's downed RQ-170 Sentinel drone

This photo released Dec. 8, 2011, by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, claims to show a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel drone which Tehran says its forces downed. / AP

TEHRAN, Iran Iran's state TV has broadcast footage allegedly extracted from the advanced CIA spy drone captured in 2011, the latest in a flurry of moves from Iranian authorities meant to underline the nation's purported military and technological advances.

Iran has long claimed it managed to reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel, seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern border with Afghanistan, and that it's capable of launching its own production line for the unmanned aircraft.

After initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed the Sentinel had been monitoring Iran's military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.

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The video aired late Wednesday on Iranian television shows an aerial view of an airport and a city, said to be a U.S. drone base and Kandahar, Afghanistan. The TV also showed images purported to be the Sentinel landing at a base in eastern Iran, but it was unclear if that footage meant to depict the moment of the drone's seizure.

It wasn't possible to immediately identify the air strip where the aircraft is seen landing, or what type of aircraft it was that captured the video. At least one other aircraft, resembling the commonly used U.S. Predator drone, can be seen near what appears to be a temporary hangar in the background as the camera pans across the air base.

In addition, the TV also showed images of an Iranian helicopter transporting the drone, as well as its disassembled parts being carried on a trailer.

In another part of the video, the chief of the Revolutionary Guard's airspace division, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said that only after capturing the drone, Iran realized it "belongs to the CIA."

"We were able to definitively access the data of the drone, once we brought it down," said Hajizadeh.

He described the Sentinel's capture as a huge scoop for Iran, saying that at the time, Tehran did not rule out a possible punitive U.S. air strike over the drone.

Iranian officials have accused the U.S. of stepping up its espionage activities against Iran as part of intensified Western efforts to force Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment program, a key aspect of its disputed nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran may be trying to develop atomic weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

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In an attempt to embarrass Washington, Iran has claimed to have captured several American drones, most recently in December, when Tehran said it seized a Boeing-designed ScanEagle drone — a less sophisticated aircraft — after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf.

U.S. officials said there was no evidence that the latest claims were true.

The latest Sentinel footage came as the U.S. tightened sanctions to pressure the Iranian government to limit its nuclear program and restrictions on institutions that Washington says are stifling political dissent and censoring speech.

Among the expanded measures announced Monday by the Treasury Department is a move to deny Iran access to revenue garnered from its oil exports. Under the latest sanctions, Iran would only be able to use revenue from its oil sales in a country that purchased its crude — now mostly big Asian economies such as China and India — which would significantly limit its access to the money.

[quincytodd]

How great it would be only if the Iranians could bring down more of these electronic birds! Unfortunately, I guess that that's only wishful thinking on my part. Those right-wing fanatics in Washington need to be stopped somehow!

[mecury69]

Bet you it was China, not the Iranians that hacked into the system and forced it to land.

[parisdakar]

Think about it for a second. What video would be stored in the thing? Video of Iranian facilities? How would that help Iran? I think the Iranians know what their own facilities look like. We don't shoot video of our own facilities. And do you think the designers of our drones never considered that they might fall into the enemy's hands. Any data that the thing gathered is either encrypted, undecipherable, has self destructed, or is just not stored in the drone itself in the first place. Or perhaps the Iranians built a model drone out of plywood and fiberglass, and made up the whole story just to send US politicians and the public into a time wasting tizzy. That seems to be working. I doubt CIA people are really worried about this.

[goffredo29]

Damn it! That's my drone! I wondered where it had gotten off to. I was flying it around the local park and next thing I know it disappeared. Who do I talk to to get it back?

[SteveDouglass]

Although the imagery looks authentic and I can positively identify the landing field as Kandahar Air Base Afghanistan, it doesn't necessarily indicate Iran was successful at decrypting classified video from the RQ-170 storage devices. It's clear this is low rez video from the camera behind the nose gear used for landing and taxiing the aircraft (via local remote) and NOT from the GORGAN STARE sensor suite located on the belly in the reconnaissance bay.

That imagery is is transmitted via secure SATCOM links to the end user and saved to an encrypted drive. I won't be convinced Iran hacked the RQ-170 until I see more footage from the Sentinel's sensor suite. If they are successful at hacking the classified imagery - it will be with China's help.

I was surprised to see what looked like an Avenger Predator C parked in front of one of the temporary pre-fab shelters alongside a garden-variety RQ-9 Reaper.

Note to drone engineers: How about designing a self-destruct device that destroys all the data in the case the drone loses contact with the drone controller?

Inadvertently (even though it's not a huge loss) you've given Iran a look at what else is inside the hangars at Kandahar.

[randomites]

My aunt has one of these.

[Cowmpound]

Someone tell me why this is a big deal?

[todaypost]

It is not the question who will tell you. It is "will you be listening?" or "do you have the IQ to understand?"

The capture drone represents a security and technology leak. It means US can't use the drone technology to monitor Iran in near term. If that is not big deal, what else can be?

[nembudonna]

It looks real neat.