The Northrop Grumman-built Triton unmanned aircraft system completed its first flight from the company’s manufacturing facility in Palmdale, Calif., on May 22, 2014. Northrop Grumman by Bob Brown via the US Navy.
In a series of tweets posted to his personal Twitter account on June 21, President Donald Trump explained his rationale for halting a planned US military strike against Iran after it used a surface-to-air missile to take down a US Navy RQ-4 Global Hawk drone variant on June 19.
“We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die,” Trump wrote.
An unnamed general told him the tentative response would cost 150 lives, he said.
Trump said he called off the attack 10 minutes before it was slated to go on because it was a disproportionate response “to shooting down an unmanned drone.”
“I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world,” he continued.
He went onto tout increasing and “biting” US sanctions on Iran.
“Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!” he wrote.