News Brief — Dec 8, 2014

U-2 reconnaissance plane. Click to enlarge

Fars News reports that a U.S. U-2 spy plane was warned to stay clear of Iranian airspace last week.

According to Iran’s top air defense commander Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli, the U.S. surveillance plane altered its flight path after Iran’s air defence missiles locked onto it.

“Last week a U-2 spy plane was tracked in the proximity of our country’s borders; our missile systems came into action and we warned the aircraft and made it make a U-turn,” Gen. Esmayeeli told students gathering in the Northeastern city of Mashhad Sunday night.

Although the U-2 is nearly 60 years old it has been updated and redesigned and is still routinely used by the U.S. for surveillance.

Its ability to fly at the highest altitudes, virtually on the edge of space, puts it beyond the reach of the air defence missiles and fighters of potential enemies. In theory, at least.

Nonetheless, the fact that the U-2 altered its flight path after Iranian air defences locked onto it can only mean that it wasn’t prepared to risk finding out if Iranian missiles could reach its altitude.

Earlier this year Iranian air defence forces shot down an advanced Israeli surveillance drone as it flew on a reconnaissance mission near the Natanz nuclear facility. Thought to have been a Hermes 900, the Israeli UAV is specifically designed to fly undetected by enemy air defence radars.

The two incidents underline Iran’s growing ability in air defence, however. Both in terms of the sensitivity and accuracy of its air defence radars and the potential range of its air defence missiles.

Having watched how Western air power was used against Iraq, in the first Gulf War and more recently during the 2003 invasion, Iran has put special emphasis into developing its air defence systems. Those efforts now appear to be paying off.