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 In December 2011, Iran said it had captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel reconnaissance drone in eastern Iran that had been reported lost by US forces in neighboring Afghanistan.The Iranian copy of the aircraft allegedly made a successful first flight, Press TV reported.On Monday, Tehran claimed that its version of the drone was fully operational.In May, Iran unveiled a copy of the RQ-170 drone, an aircraft manufactured by US defense technology company Lockheed Martin.The United States has said the security system meant Iran was unlikely to get valuable information from the drone.Reuters contributed to this report.
– Back in 2011, Iran captured a US stealth drone that had moved into its airspace from Afghanistan. The country says it's made a copy of the drone, and new footage allegedly shows it in flight for the first time, the AP reports. The video, shown on state TV, reveals a black aircraft soaring over a mountainous area. Perhaps unsurprisingly, an Iranian general says the country's version of the RQ-170 Sentinel is even better than the American one. Its "weight has remarkably become less, it consumes less fuel, its speed has been increased, and the duration that it can fly has improved a lot because of its enhanced body," the head of the Revolutionary Guards' aerospace division notes. Unlike the US version, the Iranian one contains no metal, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh says: "It helps to reduce its detectability by radars." Tehran plans to make several of the drones this year, which in Iran ends March 20; next year, it aims to mass-produce them, the general says. The flight occurred a few days ago, per Iran's PressTV, which has the clip, the Jerusalem Post reports. "The mini-stroke Americans suffered will be complete by watching this footage," Hajizadeh notes.