Iran claims to have copied U.S. drone

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) looks at Iranian-made Sarir drone during Army Day parade at the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in southern Tehran, Iran on April 18, 2013.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) looks at Iranian-made Sarir drone during Army Day parade at the mausoleum of the founder of the Islamic Republic, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in southern Tehran, Iran on April 18, 2013. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian

TEHRAN, (UPI) --Iran announced on Sunday that it has copied a U.S. drone "commandeered" in 2011.

The RQ-170 Sentinel drone, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, was allegedly "brought down by the Iranian Armed Forces' electronic warfare unit" in December 2011, reported Iran's Tasnim News Agency.

Shortly after Iran revealed its drone capture, U.S. President Barack Obama asked Iran to return the drone. "We've asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond."

In response, Iranian military deputy commander Gen. Hossein Salami told the semi-official Fars news agency, "No nation welcomes other countries' spy drones in its territory, and no one sends back the spying equipment and its information back to the country of origin."

And then, in late 2013, Iran revealed that engineers had "managed to reverse engineer most parts" of the American drone.

On Sunday, a ceremony was held in Iran to recognize its reverse-engineering feat, displaying both the U.S. drone and its Iranian copy.

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