Range of Iranian air defense greater than US military anticipated: report

Foreign Policy made the comment in an article titled “Why Trump Decided Not to Attack Iran”, which was published on Friday, a day after Iran's IRGC shot down a US spy drone that had violated the country's airspace.

Byron Callan, an analyst with Capital Alpha Partners said to FP that the US downed drone in the region indicates that the range of Iranian air defenses is greater than the US military anticipated.

The incident suggests “there will need to be a rethink of operating airborne surveillance systems within range of Iranian air defenses, as well as broader questions about survivability of these sorts of platforms in contested environments,” Callan said.

In a statement issued early on Thursday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the US-made Global Hawk surveillance drone was brought down by its Air Force near the Kouh-e Mobarak region, which sits in the central district of Jask County, after the aircraft violated Iranian airspace.

Iran says it will take the case to the United Nations in protest of the US' blatant act of aggression. US claims the drone had been flying over international waters, despite Iran's evidence that the debris of the downed drone was retrieved from Iranian waters.

ZZ/PR