File image.
The United States military has lost a total of 16 MQ-9 Reaper combat drones since the start of the war on Iran, CBS News reported on April 1, citing two American officials.
According to the channel, at least two drones were shot down by Iranian air defenses near the city of Isfahan in the center of the Islamic Republic very recently.
MQ-9 combat drones, which cost upwards of $30 million per a unit, are primarily used to collect intelligence, but have the ability to conduct pinpoint strikes. The advanced drones can operate for more than 27 hours and reach altitudes of over 25,000 feet.
Not all the MQ-9s lost since the start of the war were shot down over Iran. At least one was lost near Qatar, and another was intercepted over Iraq. The total cost of the Reapers lost so far is at least $480 millions.
In recent days, Iranian state media released videos showing the successful interception of three drones, alleged to be MQ-9s.
An additional video showed what appears to be a RQ-21 Blackjack drone of the U.S. military getting shot down by Iranian air defenses.
The RQ-21 was designed to provide forward reconnaissance. The drone has an endurance of 16 hours, an operational range of 93 kilometers. It can carry an 18 kg payload, typically a day/night electro-optical system. The cost of a single drone of this type is estimated at close to $9 millions.
The U.S. and Israel have largely succeeded in neutralizing the upper tiers of Iran’s air defense network. However, the Islamic Republic’s short-range air defense systems are still very active.
By targeting drones in particular, Iran is hindering the reconnaissance capabilities of both countries, and increasing the cost of the war.
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usa and israel are turning iranians into “persian jelly”…heheheh
this war can end with the detection of netanyahu and trump for crimes against humanity
drop your transparent faked nazi narrative and grow up. the crime is to entrap the world under nuclear dependency by their parent corporation from the mutants of mama and papa patriarchal family values.
naturally all americunts are feminized immoral clitorized inferior species
i am sick of state sponsored ai trolls. destroying the world is not improvement. us taxpayer junk is always failure
then why don’t you stop
trump is going to start the ground invasion, tactical nooks will lead the way and vaporize any iranian military forces standing in the way of us forces. it will be like a walk in the park, like parting the red sea and crossing it. after that, any delusional thoughts of the iranian regime, the irgc and their delusional illiterate people of putting up any meaningful resistance will completely collapse. “nook their aas and take their gas” hehehe.
that would be the intelligence people are used to from the idiot squad. then what moron? radiated troops. ooohhh , you’re sooo smart. radiated gulf, even smarter. what a bunch of dumb fks. these idiots are liable to nuke themselves. typical trumpette.
ussa has lost more than reapers. it has lost its mojo
inferior lgbt americunt species humiliated by iran—pathetic stupefied ugly zoo animals
very few zoos want ugly stupid americunts wasting valuable cages where interesting more intelligent marsupials can be housed
16 x mq9 reaper drones… ouch!!!
i hope it stings real bad!
make it 160 and usa kaput
i received more training from bibi yesterday –he tore my anuz and squirted high quality hebrew jizz inside me