US UAV worth more than 200 hundred million USD is missing, suspected to have crashed near Iran

Data from flight tracking site Flightradar24 Today, the US Navy’s MQ-4C Triton reconnaissance drone (UAV) departed from the Sigonella base in Italy, flew over the Persian Gulf, circled the Strait of Hormuz and then turned back to the starting point.

However, after entering Saudi Arabian airspace, the US UAV turned on the transponder code “7400”, showing that it had lost connection with the control station. The plane then turned toward Iran and continuously lowered altitude, from 15,850 m to 2,900 m.

The plane switched to the transponder code “7700”, used in the event of an emergency in the air, shortly before the locator signal completely disappeared over the Persian Gulf, off the coast of Iran.

Editor Stefano D’Urso of the military aviation website Aviationist commented that the MQ-4C had crashed into the sea, but said that it was too early to conclude whether the incident was related to Iran or not.

US and Iranian officials have not yet commented on the information.

MQ-4C Triton is a UAV for the US Navy, developed from the Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk model. The Triton system is responsible for providing real-time intelligence, reconnaissance and reconnaissance data in large ocean and near-shore coastal areas, as well as participating in maritime patrol, search and rescue activities and supporting P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance.

Each MQ-4C aircraft has a factory price of 180-230 million USD, depending on the production batch. The US Navy initially planned to order 70 aircraft, but later cut the order to 27 aircraft. According to specialized news site Inside Defensethe entire Triton project cost about 13 billion USD, causing the price of each MQ-4C aircraft to reach more than 600 million USD if research and development costs are included.

The aircraft is 14.5 m long, has a wingspan of 40 m and an empty weight of 6.7 tons. An MQ-4C can operate continuously for 30 hours, have a range of 15,200 km, a flight ceiling of 18 km and reach a maximum speed of 575 km/h.

Triton’s main sensor is the AN/ZPY-3 active electronically scanned array radar, capable of observing an area of ​​5,200 km2 in just one scan at an altitude of 17 km. When operating at low altitude, Triton can deploy the MTS-B electro-optical-infrared complex similar to the MQ-9 Reaper model, accompanied by a laser rangefinder and indicator device.

The aircraft is also equipped with a modular electronic support system (ESM), allowing remote detection and identification of radar signals, helping to determine the location of enemy forces.

The US military deployed nearly 30 aircraft of all types during the 6-week conflict with Iran, including at least one to two E-3 Sentry early warning aircraft, many KC-135 tanker aircraft, 4 F-15E heavy fighters, an A-10 attack, several manned helicopters and 16 MQ-9 Reaper UAVs.