Sentinel in Iran

The Iranian Government claimed to have shot down an incredibly sophisticated RQ-170 Sentinel drone, apparently without little to no damage.  The drone a top secret piece of military hardware and is credited with conducting surveillance of the infamous bin Laden compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan in the weeks leading up to the Seal Team Six raid of the house.  While little is known of the actual capabilities of the drone, military experts believe the drone has real-time streaming video and advanced stealth technology.  It is obviously of great importance to American surveillance missions across the globe, and the loss of the drone could prove problematic, especially if there is a successful effort to reverse-engineer components of the drone.  I'll speak more to that later.

A reasonable person would expect significant damage of a drone shot down if it was flying at 50,000 feet.  If you are suspicious of the apparently mint condition of the Sentinel, good for you.  You should be.  The Department of Defense acknowledges they "lost" a drone in the area on December 4, but the spokesman claims it was not shot down.  One could imagine an Iranian hacking scheme where they possibly took control of the craft and landed it themselves.  Of course, a hacking scheme would likely rely on the premise the Iranians knew the craft was there in the first place.  A drone of that size flying at 50,000 feet at approximately 500 miles per hour, equipped with stealth technology would presumably be nearly impossible to detect.  Which leads me to my point.  I think the American Government intentionally "lost" this craft.

The Iranians are obviously engaged in efforts to dull the edge of the American military, and one of the best ways they can accomplish that goal is to improve their own military technology.  And voila, they receive a RQ-170 Sentinel drone, and flaunt it to the world.  The American government at first gives quiet hints that the drone pictured on Iranian television is the real deal, and today President Obama asked for the Iranians to return the drone.  All the while, the Iranians are likely spending an incredible amount of resources trying to reverse engineer this craft.  They are mapping dimensions, acquiring chemical makeups of different materials, replicating electrical components, etc.  End the end, their efforts will prove futile, because the craft is a fake, at least in my view.  The phony craft was probably intentionally flown over Iran with the end purpose being the Iranians would hack into the systems to take control of the drone.  Think of it as a modern day Trojan Horse, without the little men inside of it trying to kill everyone.  Instead, the purpose is to force the Iranians to spend vast amounts of money and man power to replicate this drone that will never work as advertised.

Of course, this whole idea could be completely wrong.  The Iranians really could have the drone.  But my explanation is just as plausible, and explains why the drone seems to be largely intact, and why the American Government has been so nonchalant about recovering this valuable piece of national security.