Coalition Jets Shoot Down Iranian Drone Over Iraq (03/2009)

According to the Department of Defense, published on March 16, 2009:

Coalition jet fighters shot down an Iranian drone that was hovering over Iraq late last month, Multinational Force Iraq officials confirmed today.

 

Continue scrolling for more...

The incident occurred Feb. 25, about 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, officials said in a statement.

Two coalition aircraft were directed to visually identify the unmanned aerial vehicle after it was detected hovering inside the Iraqi border. The pilots confirmed that it wasn’t a coalition aircraft and that no collateral damage would result from a shoot-down.

Coalition air forces tracked the UAV for nearly one hour and 10 minutes before the pilots engaged and shot it down “well inside Iraqi airspace,” officials said.

Officials said they believe the drone to be an Iranian-made Ababil 3 model UAV.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and military leaders have long accused Iran of interference in Iraq. Iran poses “a real problem,” Gates said on PBS’ “Tavis Smiley Show” March 11.

“I think it’s one of the significant challenges that we’re going to face over the next several years,” he said. (Source)

 

Documents from the DOD Regarding the Incident [11 Pages, 2.13MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/defenseissues/irandroneshootdown2009dod.pdf

Follow The Black Vault on Social Media:

This post was published on February 25, 2015 12:04 am

John Greenewald

Recent Posts

FBI Files: American Military

Welcome to the FBI Files on American Military Personnel archive at The Black Vault. This…

July 4, 2025

FBI Files: Directors, Agents and Personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Background The Central Intelligence Agency was created in 1947 with the signing of the National…

July 4, 2025

Private/Unlisted YouTube Videos of U.S. Government Agencies

Background Many U.S. government agencies and military branches have public YouTube pages. That is no…

July 3, 2025

FOIA Response Reveals Contact Between AARO and Enigma Labs; Details Remain Largely Redacted

In a new batch of documents obtained by The Black Vault, the Department of Defense…

July 3, 2025

FBI Files: Civil Rights Era

Background Movements for civil rights were a worldwide series of political movements for equality before…

July 1, 2025

FBI Files: Historical Figures & Groups

Background Welcome to the FBI Files on Historical Figures & Groups archive at The Black…

June 26, 2025