On June 20, 2019, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down a United States
RQ-4A Global Hawk BAMS-D surveillance drone.
As per reports, Khordad-3 surface-to-air missile was used to bring down the drone over the
Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian officials claimed that the drone violated their airspace, while U.S. representatives
claimed that the drone was in international airspace.
Russia has taken Iran’s side when it comes to the location of the shootout whereas France
has said that its intelligence collaborates American analysis.
A single RQ-4A Global Hawk costs $131.4 million excluding R&D expenses.
This makes is it pricier than an F 35 which now cost around 90 million and 10 times the
price of drones like the Predator and Reaper.
Many reports in mainstream media especially in the West has picked up on this and seem
to be creating a lot of hype with regards to Iran’s military capability.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why Iran downing an American RQ-4 Global Hawk
means nothing when it comes to real combat ?
Let's get started.
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The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is an unmanned (UAV) surveillance aircraft.
The Global Hawk performs duties similar to that of the Lockheed U-2.
The RQ-4 provides a broad overview and systematic surveillance using high-resolution synthetic
aperture radar (SAR) and long-range electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensors.
It is capable of taking high definition and infra-red images as well as can intercept
telephone and radio chatter.
Global Hawk has a range of more than 12,000 nautical miles or 22,200 km, can fly at very
high altitudes of 60,000 feet, and can keep loitering for around 34 hours without break.
It can survey as much as 40,000 square miles or 100,000 km2 of terrain a day.
This is equivalent to the size of South Korea or Iceland.
Global Hawk has no offensive capabilities and is dedicated to intelligence gathering.
But in a conflict, RQ-4 Global Hawk is not Iran will face.
U.S will deploy F22 Raptor, F 35 Lightning II and B2 Spirit.
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II which is a single-seat, single-engine, all-weather
stealth multirole fighters is undergoing final development and testing by the United States.
F-35's stealthy design makes it capable of functioning in extremely high-threat environments
and initiate attack even against advanced enemy air defenses.
It is capable of deploying a wide range of weapons that include smart bombs and Anti-radiation weapons.
F 22 Raptor is the first operational aircraft to combine super-cruise, super-maneuverability,
sensor fusion and stealth in a single platform.
Supercruise is the ability to have sustained supersonic flight without having to use the
highly inefficient afterburners.
With this F 22 can intercept targets which subsonic aircraft would lack the speed to
pursue and an afterburner-dependent aircraft would lack the fuel to reach.
Apart from the excellent performance matrix, F 22 also has very strong stealth characteristics.
Because of all this, it is actually considered to be the most potent fighter jet in the world.
The B-2 Spirit was developed to take over the United States Air Force’s high-value
penetration missions.
It is able to travel deep into enemy territory and unleash its weapons payload which could
include nukes.
The B-2 is a flying wing aircraft, meaning it has no fuselage or tail.
The incorporation of low-observable technologies with high aerodynamic efficiency and large
payload makes B 2 Spirit the most potent bomber in the world.
There is still no operational bomber that possesses capabilities like the B-2.
Let us now check 3 reasons why shooting down these platforms will be a totally different
ball game when compared to RQ-4 Global Hawk
Global Hawk is a pretty big drone.
It has a wingspan of more than 130 feet.
To give viewers a perspective, this is similar to a Boeing 737 passenger jet.
RQ-4 Global Hawk is not designed to be stealth and with the large size, it has a very big
Radar Cross Section (RCS) This makes it vulnerable to a modern air defense
system.
But F 22 Raptor, F 35 Lightning II and B2 Spirit are tailored to be stealthy and have
very small RCS.
This makes it very hard for Air Defense Systems to target these.
It is to be noted that, just detecting the aircraft won’t do, it is important to have
continuous tracking that can guide a missile to the aircraft.
Many new radars are now able to ‘detect’ stealth aircraft but there are very few that can ’track’ these.
Global Hawk is not meant to dogfight.
It has a top speed of 391 mph or 629 km/h and very low maneuverability.
B 2 Spirit has decent maneuverability, at least far better than a Global Hawk.
F 35 may not be very good when it comes to maneuverability as compared to few other modern
fighters, but it is still far ahead of the game when compared to a drone like Global
Hawk
F 22 is one of the most agile fighter jets.
Its maneuverability is at the top of the stack and is demonstrated by its ability to pull
off Pugachev’s Cobra maneuver.
Pugachev’s Cobra is a demanding maneuver in which an airplane flying at a moderate
speed suddenly raises the nose to the vertical position and slightly beyond like a cobra’s
hood, before dropping it back to normal flight.
This requires impressive engine thrust to maintain approximately constant altitude through
the entire move.
B 2 Spirit flies at high subsonic speed whereas F35 & F 22 are capable of supersonic speed.
The much better speed and maneuverability mean that the American offensive fleet will
be far harder to knock down when compared to a remotely controlled platform like Global Hawk.
This is because they can that take evasive actions when targeted by Surface to Air Missile.
An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is a mechanism designed to trick or deceive radar.
It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy.
The system may make many separate targets appear to the enemy, or make the real target
appear to disappear or move about randomly.
This kind of systems can also jam enemy sensors by overloading them with too much information.
ECM can be used effectively to protect aircraft from Surface to Air Missile.
ECM is not available to Global Hawk.
But elaborate ECM capability is deployed by F22 Raptor, F 35 Lightning II and B2 Spirit.
With ECM, the American offensive force will be able to evade Iran’s missiles defense.
Iran has several types of air defense systems that include indigenous once as well as of
foreign origin.
It has recently showcased KHORDAD 15 which is thought to be far more advanced than the
Khordad 3.
Apart from these, Iran also has Russian made S-300 which is its most potent air defense
system.
S 300 can be equipped with radars that are claimed to have the capability to detect even
stealthy aircraft.
It is not known that those radars actually work properly and if Russia has provided them
to Iran or not.
Iran is thought to possess 4 batteries each of S 300 P and S 300 PMU2.
But the overall picture can be very well deciphered.
Iran has successfully shot down something that was not equipped to penetrate the area
that is defended by decent air defense.
The downing shows that Iran’s military is not to be taken lightly, but it doesn’t
mean it will be able to overpower an American aerial onslaught.
American military not only has the hardware platforms that are capable of dealing with
this kind of threats but also have very well trained pilots and mission planners who know
exactly how to exploit the vulnerabilities of enemy defenses.