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 In December 2011, Iran said it had captured a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel
reconnaissance drone in eastern Iran that had been reported lost by
U.S. forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
"We promised that a model of RQ-170 would fly in the second half of
the year, and this has happened," Brigadier General Amir Ali
Hajizadeh told IRNA. "A film of the flight will be released soon."
In a video posted by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency, Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei voiced satisfaction at the news after
seeing a replica of the drone, saying: "Today is a very sweet and
unforgettable day for me."
Following reports of the drone's capture, Iranian commanders said
they had extracted valuable technology from the aircraft and were in
the process of reverse-engineering it for their own defense
industry.
In May, Iran unveiled a copy of the RQ-170 drone, an aircraft
manufactured by U.S. defense technology company Lockheed Martin
(LMT.N).
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The United States has said the security system meant Iran was
unlikely to get valuable information from the drone.
(Reporting By Michelle Moghtader; Editing by Noah Browning and Janet
Lawrence)
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