Officially, there is still an unarmed US reconnaissance airplane missing since last week when US and NATO officials say operators lost control of this remotely piloted aircraft during a mission over western Afghanistan. “We haven’t recovered the drone that we believe is missing,” said Navy Capt. John Kirby, deputy assistant secretary of defense for media operations, during a Pentagon briefing Thursday. Unofficially, however, US defense and intelligence officials are telling US media outlets that the secret intelligence-gathering aircraft went down in eastern Iran and that the Iranians have indeed recovered it. The claims are that this RPA—allegedly the Lockheed Martin-built stealthy RQ-170 Sentinel—went down due to a malfunction. Conversely, the Iranians are boasting that they brought the aircraft down via a mobile jamming system that disrupted its communications links with its remote controllers. On Thursday, Iranian state television showed off what the Iranians assert is the recovered RQ-170 looking relatively intact, for full propaganda effect. Continue
Air Force General Sentenced In Historic Court-Martial
June 30, 2024
A military judged sentenced an Air Force general on June 29 to a reprimand, restriction to Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph for two months, and $10,000 forfeiture of pay per month for 6 months.