The US military has confirmed that a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was close to the RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that was shot down by Iran on 20 June, seemingly corroborating an Iranian claim that it deliberately did not target the manned aircraft.
An infographic explains the data seen on the image taken by the P-8A of the RQ-4A being shot down. (IHS Markit / CENTCOM)
The presence of a P-8 was first reported by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency the day after the UAV was shot down by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) over the Gulf of Oman.
“The plane had also violated our airspace and we could target it, but we did not do so because our goal behind downing the American drone was to warn the terrorist forces of the US,” it quoted Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, as saying.
The news agency cited Brig Gen Hajizadeh as saying the UAV was shot down at 04:05 h Iranian time and claimed that 35 people were aboard the P-8. The type typically has a crew of eight and can carry a maximum of 20 people.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted co-ordinates that placed the RQ-4A inside Iranian airspace when it was hit and then released a map that gave different co-ordinates 1.5 km to the south of the UAV’s final location at 04:06 h.
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