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Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone largely intact (2011)

In December 2011 Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone (a Lockheed Martin Skunk Works aircraft) near Kashmar, reportedly bringing it down largely intact. Iran claimed an electronic-warfare/spoofing takeover; the US said it lost control of the CIA-operated drone. The capture raised concerns about reverse-engineering of stealth UAV technology.

Occurred 2011-12-04 · SMSS (Squad Mission Support System) at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA · Lockheed Martin · Fort Benning, Georgia, USA

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Track Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone largely intact (2011)

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Sources (1)

  1. Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93U.S._RQ-170_incident

Common questions

What happened in Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone largely intact (2011)?
In December 2011 Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone (a Lockheed Martin Skunk Works aircraft) near Kashmar, reportedly bringing it down largely intact. Iran claimed an electronic-warfare/spoofing takeover; the US said it lost control of the CIA-operated drone. The capture raised concerns about reverse-engineering of stealth UAV technology.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on December 4, 2011 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
What robot was involved in Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone largely intact (2011)?
SMSS (Squad Mission Support System) by Lockheed Martin is the recorded robot involved in this incident at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA.
Has anyone responded to Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone largely intact (2011)?
No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
What is the current status of Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone largely intact (2011)?
This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-14

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-14

Sources by quality tier

1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Iran captured a US RQ-170 Sentinel stealth surveillance drone largely intact (2011).

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Canonical ID cf993706-21c7-4cd9-8e5b-03f4cff82ca5