The Department of Defense announced Thursday that the nation of Iran unsuccessfully attempted to intercept an unmanned American MQ-1, the “Predator” drone manufactured by aerospace and defense contractor General Atomics.The aircraft was flying in international waters on a March 12 classified surveillance flight, the Pentagon said, when an Iranian F-4 Phantom 2 jet came within around 16 miles of the drone in an attempt to intercept the aircraft.
The U.S. scrambled two aircrafts to back down the Phantom jet with a verbal warning and escort the Predator back to safety shortly thereafter, according to the official report.
“All U.S. aircraft remained over international waters at all times,†George Little, Pentagon press secretary, said.
DoD included in its report that Iranian aircraft fired two missles on another remotely piloted aircraft over the Arabian Sea in November, at which time Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said those types of missions would continue unabated.
