AMERICAN OFFICIALS CONCEDE DRONE ALLEGEDLY CAPTURED BY IRAN IS CIA AIRCRAFT

U.S. officials have admitted that the unmanned RQ-170 plane that seemingly fell into Iranian hands earlier this month was from the CIA fleet. The stealth aircraft has a highly sophisticated surveillance capability, due in part to its customized coatings and batwing form, features facilitating penetration of foreign air defenses without detection. The CIA employed the RQ-170 in the months long watch of the Osama bin Laden hideout in Pakistan, prior to the Special Operations raid on his compound this past May that cost him his life. The Lockheed Martin manufactured plane first drew the world’s attention two years ago, when a photo was taken of a model at the American airbase in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
The initial official American line on the current incident, that the drone was on a routine military mission over Afghanistan and unintentionally wandered into Iranian airspace, was echoed in a statement emanating from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, a number of U.S. defense officials called the validity of the ISAF statement into question almost immediately, and asserted that it was improbable that the military would utilize an aircraft of such sophistication and relatively small numbers in carrying out surveillance of western Afghanistan. The admission of the CIA connection came close on the heels of the ISAF statement, the next day in fact, although the CIA would not confirm that the agency was at the helm when the drone went down. The Pentagon was similarly closemouthed regarding the episode. American officials, however, were in accord with the ISAF account of pilot loss of control, refuting Tehran’s declarations that it brought down the spy plane, the target of an advanced cyberattack. As to the actual mission being undertaken, little is known, but the Iranian nuclear program continues to be a crucial focus of U.S. intelligence.