Unmanned U.S. Plane Lost Over Iraq 

Aug 27, 2001

WASHINGTON (AP) - A pilotless U.S. reconnaissance plane failed to return from a
mission over southern Iraq on Monday. Iraq claimed it shot down the plane and U.S.
officials did not dispute that.

The incident underscored the dangers facing U.S. and British pilots who regularly patrol the
skies over Iraq and encounter anti-aircraft artillery and other air defense forces almost daily.

The Iraqi government considers the patrols illegal and in recent months has developed more
effective coordination between its early warning radars and anti-aircraft missiles,
heightening the danger to pilots.

In northern Iraq on Monday, U.S. planes attacked an SA-3 surface-to-air missile site near the
city of Mosul after taking fire from Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery guns, U.S. military officials
said. Iraq said one civilian was killed in the attack.

Pilotless aircraft capable of transmitting live images to U.S. command posts outside of Iraq
are used to supplement air patrols by Air Force F-16s and other manned aircraft in both
northern and southern Iraq.

Whether the Air Force drone, known as a Predator, was shot down or crashed due to a
technical failure, it was the first American aircraft of any kind to be lost in Iraq since the
accidental shootdown of two U.S. Army helicopters by U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters in 1994.

In July an Air Force U-2 surveillance plane was rocked by the concussion from an Iraqi
surface-to-air missile. The U.S. plane was not hit but the missile explosion was close enough
to be felt by the crew.
U.S. and British forces began monitoring no-fly zones over Iraq a decade ago.

One reason the Pentagon is developing unmanned reconnaissance aircraft like the Predator is
to lessen the risk to pilots. During the 1999 NATO bombardment of Kosovo, more than a
dozen unmanned U.S. aerial vehicles, including four Predators, crashed or were shot down
over hostile territory.

In a brief statement from U.S. Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base,
Fla., a spokesman, Col. Rick Thomas, said it was not clear what had happened to the
Predator on Monday.

``The aircraft may have crashed or been shot down,'' Thomas said.
The spokesman said U.S. officials are aware that Iraq is trying hard to down a manned
aircraft.

``Iraq has enhanced its air defense capabilities,'' Thomas said, ``so there is a risk and we'll
take steps to mitigate that risk.''

Iraqi state-run television showed footage of what it claimed was the downed plane reduced to
piles of scorched wreckage in the desert. ``U.S. Navy Prop'' was written on one part of the
aircraft.

A Pentagon spokesman, Marine Corps Lt. Col. David Lapan, said it was not possible to
determine conclusively from the images shown by Iraqi television whether the wreckage was
that of a U.S. aircraft.

Lapan said the video footage showed the name ``Sierra Monolithics'' on one component in
the wreckage.

A California company, Sierra Monolithics Inc., manufactures video transmitters and
receivers which enable two-way communication between unmanned aerial vehicles and their
ground stations. Company officials could not be reached immediately to determine whether
Sierra Monolithics supplies parts to the Predator drone.

The official Iraqi news agency said a U.S. plane was shot down near the southern city of
Basra, 340 miles south of Baghdad. Pentagon officials said the Predator was lost not far
from Basra.

Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, was quoted by the Iraqi news agency as saying his
country is ``determined to inflict more losses on the U.S. and British aggressors.''

American and British aircraft regularly patrol no-fly zones over Iraq to protect Shiite
Muslims in the south and Kurds in the north from attacks by government forces. The
southern patrols also provide early warning of potential Iraqi military moves toward the
Kuwaiti border.

Thomas said there is no plan to attempt to recover the Predator, which was reported lost at 2
a.m. EDT.

``No sensitive technology will be compromised by not recovering the aircraft,'' Thomas said.

The unarmed plane, which is 27 feet long with a wing span of 48 feet, cruises at speeds
ranging from 80 to 140 mph at altitudes up to 25,000 feet. It flies slower and lower than the
manned aircraft used over Iraq and thus is an easier target for Iraqi gunners.

One U.S. official said operators of the Predator lost communications and radar contact with
the aircraft and were not immediately sure why.

The official Iraqi news agency said the plane had flown from a base in Kuwait. U.S. officials
would not say where it was based. Manned U.S. aircraft that patrol the skies over southern
Iraq are based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian
Gulf.
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