Iranian navy plane flies near USS Eisenhower in Gulf of Oman

Iranian navy plane flies near USS Eisenhower in Gulf of Oman

CNN.com

Washington (CNN) -- An Iranian navy plane that approached a U.S. aircraft carrier last week was flying as low as 300 feet as it neared the USS Eisenhower, U.S. military officials said Wednesday.

The incident, first reported by CNN on Tuesday, came as Iran was beginning a series of military exercises last week meant to show off their military prowess.

The Eisenhower was on duty in the Gulf of Oman in the northern Arabian Sea, in support of the Afghanistan war efforts, when the Iranian maritime patrol aircraft flew within 1,000 yards of the vessel, according to military officials.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 28-4-2010 by xmaddness]

[edit on 28-4-2010 by xmaddness]

**UPDATE** The incident occurred last Wednesday April 21. The Plane was tracked for over 100 miles once it left Iran's airspace, and was tracked continuously for the duration of it's flight. It's flight path took it 1000 yards off the Eisenhower at an altitude of 300 feet. The Eisenhower and fleet were placed on high alert for the duration of the incident. Update via CNN News. **UPDATE**

**UPDATE** News article posted on CNN.com and thread updated as needed.**UPDATE**


This is just breaking and there is no official news story posted yet from CNN.com, however this was announced on CNN news by Rick Sanchez and reiterated by Wolf Blitzer just moments ago.

We all know that Iran is doing their annual "Great Prophet" War games in the Strait of Hormuz, however today a Iranian war plane, described as a small scout and recon plane, flew over the USS Eisenhower only 300ft above it.

I am not one to try to do any fear mongering or to cause any premature starts to any wars, however how is it that we allow an Iranian plane to come within 300 feet of a major USS Aircraft carrier without shooting it down?

I may be a bit wrong here, but I would have definitely ordered this plane to divert its course or face dire consequences. It only takes one plane with the proper armaments on it to take the USS Eisenhower out of operation, which strategically would be a very early goal of Iran if war did in fact break out.

I am a bit weary allowing such flyovers to occur without consequences.

A few questions for you ATS.

• What exactly are Iran's intentions to such flyovers as these?
  
  
• Is Iran trying to trick the US into firing first?
  
  
• How long do we allow them to poke and prod our military until we poke back?
  
  
• Will complacency with allowing such acts to go without repercussions end up biting us in the end?
  
  
• Just how close is too close for comfort?
  
  

What are your thoughts on this ATS?

I will update the articles if and when they come.

CNN.com

Other Sources:
NavyTimes.com

(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 28-4-2010 by xmaddness]

My sister's on that boat!~ Believe me, if the plane was a threat... one of the other 10 boats in the fleet would knock it out of the sky!~ Do you really think Iran poses a threat to the US? Your talking about a boat that's bigger than most malls!~

Very strange though... keep us updated... I personaly don't think Iran is a threat to the U.S. AT THIS MOMENT. Even if they had a nuke... what would they do? Throw it at us?

Originally posted by djcubed
My sister's on that boat!~ Believe me, if the plane was a threat... one of the other 10 boats in the fleet would knock it out of the sky!~ Do you really think Iran poses a threat to the US? Your talking about a boat that's bigger than most malls!~

Very strange though... keep us updated... I personaly don't think Iran is a threat to the U.S. AT THIS MOMENT. Even if they had a nuke... what would they do? Throw it at us?

you underestimate Iran's military. a boat that is bigger than most malls? it only takes one bomb to level a city, friend.

reply to post by djcubed


Well when I say that it could take Eisenhower out, I simply mean it could take its flight deck out of commission for a short time. By no means do I mean take it out as in sink it.

It just seems to me that a plane like this could easily conceal something more sinister, which could be enough to give Iran a small window of opportunity if something were to happen to Eisenhower.

Actually after doing a little research on Iran's military I found this interesting. It's from 2006. It could have been one these flying just under the radar.
In any case if true that pilot had a pair

I hope the link works.

Link

reply to post by eightonefive


And what bomb is that?

Lol, wrong thread

[edit on 28/4/2010 by PsykoOps]

I truly wonder how protected that Aircraft Carrier would be against a simple 25 pound bundle of pure thermite that hit it's deck and ignited?

Then again, I wonder how long it would take that thermite to finally penetrate through to the hull....

Originally posted by PsykoOps
My question has always been why did the pilot bank hard as to avoid the runway? I haven't read many threads or followed this closely and only now see that the black boxes aren't released. Why not? Do the voice recording from the cockpit reveal what the pilot was trying to avoid?

I had to quote that before you realized your mistake.

I nominate this as the most out of place reply for 2010

NOOOOOO!!! Or maybe the iranian pilot banked hard to to avoid something? There could be something to this after all?

Originally posted by PsykoOps
Lol, wrong thread

[edit on 28/4/2010 by PsykoOps]

lol... wrong forum my friend. We're now in the Gulf of Aiden, not Russia...lol...

[edit]
Darn - changed it before I could post lol

[edit on 28-4-2010 by DarkspARCS]

reply to post by SLAYER69



Nice find. These flying speed boats seem to be the Iranian Navy's answer to our large cumbersome vessels. Their tactic seems to be one of swarming the large ships with hundreds of smaller, faster, heavily armed attack speed boats. These "speed boat planes" seem to reinforce that outlook. I have read that some analysts think this may actually be a workable tactic if a navy arena battle did take place.

Good find!




[edit on 28-4-2010 by xmaddness]

Originally posted by PsykoOps
NOOOOOO!!! Or maybe the iranian pilot banked hard to to avoid something? There could be something to this after all?

Buwahahahahaha.....


Good save.

Originally posted by DarkspARCS
I truly wonder how protected that Aircraft Carrier would be against a simple 25 pound bundle of pure thermite that hit it's deck and ignited?

Then again, I wonder how long it would take that thermite to finally penetrate through to the hull....

This is a better line of thinking than the spy plane with a nuke inside that can level a whole city.

CNN STATES - "Navy didn't worry about it... no big deal."

I'm sorry... but if you know anything about the US Navy... they don't need to worry about IRAN.

It's not like IRAN was breaking any laws. I can't get behind this hype.

Originally posted by SLAYER69
Actually after doing a little research on Iran's military I found this interesting. It's from 2006. It could have been one these flying just under the radar.
In any case if true that pilot had a pair

I hope the link works.

Link

I'm sure this bad boy would turn those flying boats into gum drops....









This gun would turn that flying lilypad into so many little Iranian pieces gently sinking down into deep waters it just isn't funny...

reply to post by djcubed


Sure..... Just like they don't have to worry abotu NK too right? I mean after all no one puts little kimmy in his place yet he's threatened war against SK, probably sinked one of their ships and has threatened nukes against America. But the US military is too busy beating up on terrorists with sandals and AK-47's to take out the REAL threats. So this incident was 300 ft? What's next? 250 ft? 100 ft? If America had any real balls they would have blown this turd out of the sky. The US either needs to take a big crap or get off the pot when it comes to Iran. This talk of sanctions and threats is like the boy who cried wolf. Iran is going to call our bluff. And it won't be pretty. The arrogance of the US military is dangerous. You don't need to sink a carrier to make it ineffective. And the US navy hasn't been in a real battle since WWII. Things have changed a lot in 50 years.

reply to post by Zosynspiracy

If America had any real balls they would have blown this turd out of the sky.

Now that would be silly, the Iranian plane was over international waters, according to CNN! So how would shooting down an unarmed plane be anything more than a cowards act?

edition.cnn.com...

Adm. Gary Roughead, the top Navy officer, confirmed the April 21 incident. The Iranians were "not provocative or threatening. As long as they are professional and not threatening or reckless, it's international space," he said.

Radar on the Eisenhower and other U.S. ships in the vicinity closely tracked the Iranian aircraft as it approached the aircraft carrier to ensure it maintained a nonthreatening path, Roughead said. A senior U.S. military official said the Iranian plane was tracked by U.S. units for nearly 100 miles before it reached the Eisenhower.

The Iranian aircraft was a Fokker F27 that was unarmed, officials said. It remained in the vicinity of the Eisenhower for about 20 minutes before leaving the area, according to the senior official. The Eisenhower had just finished a series of carrier aircraft flight operations and a resupply at sea mission.

U.S. officials believe the Iranians wanted a close look at the carrier, but they could not say if the Iranians took photos of the ship.

One of the officials also said Iran may simply have been trying to demonstrate its aerial capabilities to the United States.

U.S. military officials continue to emphasize that recent encounters with Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf have been professional and without confrontation or problems. The U.S. Navy takes great care to try to stay out of the way of any Iranian forces in the region, officials said.

reply to post by john124


Thanks John124... What's the that we here at ATS like to say... deny... um... deny... something... lol

Originally posted by SLAYER69
Actually after doing a little research on Iran's military I found this interesting. It's from 2006. It could have been one these flying just under the radar.
In any case if true that pilot had a pair

I hope the link works.

Link

Actually, I'm thinking it was more likely this - a little more low tech - iranian design:

iranian aircraft design