File image.
The Aerospace Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on August 7 showcased an underground exhibition with the wreckage of dozens of United States and Israeli drones.
The display, featured in a teaser released by the state-run IRIB news agency, includes a near-intact Israeli Hermes 900 combat drone with serial number “923”, which was reportedly brought down by the IRGC using electronic warfare.
It also includes remains from more than 30 U.S. MQ-9 Reaper combat drones downed since the start of the war—a figure confirmed by a U.S. official—alongside remnants from the U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet shot down right before the first ceasefire, namely an ejection seat, a part of the canopy, and a section of its tail.
In addition, the exhibition includes parts from several U.S. and Israeli missiles and munitions that were intercepted by Iranian air defenses.
IRGC engineers plan to reverse-engineer the captured technology to upgrade Iran’s domestic drone capabilities, the semi-official Mehr news agency, which also released footage from the exhibition, reported.
According to a Wikipedia compilation of aviation shootdowns and accidents during the latest Iran war, the U.S. suffered the heaviest aerial losses of any party in the conflict, with 74 military aircraft destroyed or damaged.
The bulk of the toll came from unmanned systems: 36 MQ-9 drones were lost, along with one MQ-1 Predator, two MQ-4C Triton drones—one of them only damaged—and one Tiguar M drone.
Piloted losses included five F-15Es, one of them only damaged; four UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, two of them only damaged; two CH-47 Chinook helicopters; two MC-130 transport aircraft; four MH-6 Little Bird helicopters; and single losses each of an AH-64 Apache, an A-10 Thunderbolt II, a CH-53E Super Stallion, an HH-60 Pave Hawk that was damaged, and an SH-60 Seahawk. Eight KC-135 Stratotankers were destroyed or damaged, one KC-46 Pegasus tanker was lost, and two E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft were destroyed or damaged, with an F-35 Lightning II also damaged by suspected Iranian ground fire.
Israel’s military aircraft losses totaled 22, consisting entirely of unmanned systems rather than crewed jets. Eight Hermes 900 drones and four Hermes 450 drones were shot down, several by Hezbollah forces in Lebanon in addition to Iranian air defenses, while six Heron drones and four Eitan drones were also downed over Iranian territory.
The IRGC Aerospace Force exhibition highlights some of the achievements of Iranian air defenses during the war. However, the wreckage of the drones and missiles recovered by Iran does carry major technological value that could indeed help the Islamic Republic advance its capabilities.
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