Uzique wrote:
Shocking wrote:
Let's just say that it's not very plausible.
Besides,
FEOS wrote:
In either case, it wouldn't end up in one piece, smaller than actual size, with a different paint job, on bad guy TV.
why is it not very plausible? the only thing stopping them from refining top-grade uranium in nuclear tech is the sanctions and difficulty the rest of the world are giving them. why does everyone have this notion that all states in the middle-east are full of tribal mong-lords and spastics? these people are just as smart when it comes to sciences and maths as we are... the only thing they (did) lack was technology, because we tried to stop them from getting hold of it. news reports are already talking about how many crashes and instances they've had dealing with drones in the past... why do you think it's not very plausible that iran have managed to hack the admittedly-easiest part of the drone - the gps? do you think when they see a drone flying overhead they're like a bunch of naked amazonian savages or something? this is not a backwards country.
First: I don't assume the Iranians are a bunch of backwards savages. I simply know what their capabilities are in that regard. And they've been getting
a lot of external help on their nuke program, btw, both in technology and design (like Russia, NK, Pakistan, and the like).
Could they have jammed (not "hacked) the gps signal? Sure--as you said, that's very straight-forward. That wouldn't have caused it to crash. These things are designed to work in a gps-degraded environment.
Second: What is with the intellectual dishonesty when it comes to Iran? With Iraq, everyone threw a fit because "the intel guys got it wrong." Now the intel guys are trying to make sure that everyone has it right regarding Iran's nuclear program and everyone's throwing a fit. Which is it? Do you want your cake, or do you want to eat it? Can't have both. In order to get the intel "right" you have to collect it somehow. That means you have to get a little intrusive. So the CIA was (to paraphrase Dilbert) "doing its job" and an asset
malfunctioned. Doing its job to get information that would likely be shared with the UK, France, and GCC countries--all of which have a problem with Iran's nuclear program (probably even shared--at least in part--with UNSC members).
So I ask again: Which is it? Do you want solid information on Iran's nuclear program (which requires intrusive intelligence collection), or do you want nations of the world making decisions about it with Iraq-quality information?