Iran 'hacks software of US spy drone' The Tehran-based Mehr news agency added that Iran had "started manufacturing models of the captured US spy plane," but gave no more details. The aircraft, which is supposedly the CIA's unseen "eye in the sky," can carry a payload of advanced sensors capable of beaming back a trove of imagery and electronic intercepts. Analysts believe Iran, China and Russia are also particularly interested in the stealth technology and wing coating materials which allow it to escape radar detection. The unarmed drone was paraded on Iranian state television, apparently looking intact, after coming down 140 miles inside Iran's eastern border in December. Tehran said it had been brought down by electronic attack after taking off from an American base inside Afghanistan. America acknowledged the loss of the aircraft, but said it was more likely to have crashed through malfunction. Analysts suggested at the time that data encryption, self-destruct mechanisms and damage sustained during the crash could all make it impossible for Iranian engineers to use or reverse engineer the technology.