This Article is From Apr 22, 2012

Iran says it is building copy of captured US drone

Iran says it is building copy of captured US drone

File photo of US RQ-170 Sentinel drone which, Tehran says it's begun building a copy of. This drone was brought down by Iranian forces in December 2011.

Tehran: A senior Iranian commander says that the country has reverse-engineered an American spy drone captured by Tehran's armed forces last year and has begun building a copy.

General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, who is the Chief of the Aerospace Division of the powerful Revolutionary Guards, was quoted on Sunday by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying that experts are also recovering data from the US RQ-170 Sentinel captured in December in Eastern Iran.

US officials have acknowledged losing the drone. They have said Iran will find it hard to exploit any data and technology aboard it because of measures taken to limit the intelligence value of drones operating over hostile territory.

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