Drone hit by Iran: US experts feel no anxiety

But experts suggested that even if the Iranians have found parts of the unmanned spy plane, they can probably glean little from it. Because it likely fell from a high altitude, there may be very few large pieces to examine.The RQ-170 known as the Sentinel has been used in Afghanistan, particularly along the border, for several years. The US Air Force has just a handful of them, said defence analyst Loren Thompson, with the Virginia-based Lexington Institute.I think were always concerned when theres an aircraft, whether its manned or unmanned, that we lose, particularly in a place where were not able to get to it, Navy Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters.U.S. officials have acknowledged that the military lost control of one of the stealthy drones while it was flying a mission over western Afghanistan. Irans official IRNA news agency has said that Irans armed forces shot it down.US officials have rejected that claim, saying there are no indications the Sentinel was shot down. In either case, officials said this would be the first Sentinel lost by the U.S.Analysts, however, played down any serious impact of the drone or pieces of it falling into Iranian hands.This is an aircraft that evades radar because of its shape and because of the special material used, said Thompson. It wont enable the Iranians to build a stealthy unmanned aircraft.Analysts said that stealth technologies primarily the low-observable shape and the materials used are fairly well known, but often hard to replicate. The Sentinel, made by Lockheed Martin, has a swept-wing shape, much like the B-2 stealth bomber. And it has been called the Beast of Kandahar because of its use in Afghanistan.They were designed to be silver bullets that could go places that other manned or unmanned aircraft would not be able to go. It specifically is designed to be very difficult for enemies to track and target, said Thompson. This is a high-flying unmanned aircraft that malfunctioned and then fell to earth. Its likely to be broken up into hundreds of pieces.John Pike of the Globalsecurity.org think tank said the Iranians already have all the data on the drones external shape, and there is nothing particularly unique about this configuration.He said the key to Americas success with the stealthy aircraft is the fuel efficient engines, which give it the ability to stay aloft for days rather than hours.Are we going to stop flying them? No. Was it a secret we were flying them? No, said Pike.