U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) released vision Friday morning that confirms a U.S. Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (or BAMS-D) ISR Global Hawk drone was lost to an Iranian surface-to-air missile.
The downed aircraft is large–wingspan the size of a Boeing 757–and designed for high altitude spy missions.
The command said the $240 million unmanned aircraft was operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at approximately 11:35 p.m. GMT on June 19, 2019 when it was lost.
CENTCOM refuted Iranian reports that the aircraft was over its territory. Iran, for its part, released footage of its own that allegedly shows the drone being taken out by a surface-to-air missile:
#Breaking Iran releases video of shooting down US RQ-4 drone, also flight path of the drone. pic.twitter.com/oOqExLvq5X
— Amirhosein (@Amirh_91) June 20, 2019
The vision from both sides was made public at the same time the New York Times reported President Donald Trump ordered air and naval strikes against Iranian targets in response to the attack but canceled them “abruptly.”
Northrop Grumman, manufacturer of the RQ-4 Global Hawk, describes it as a “premier provider of persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information.”
The attack by Iran came just 48-hours after the Pentagon released new images which officials said offered more evidence operatives from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were responsible for last week’s attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
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