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Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4 (BAMS-D) surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz (2019)

On June 20 2019 Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4N BAMS-D (a Broad Area Maritime Surveillance variant of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk) with a surface-to-air missile near the Strait of Hormuz. The US said the high-altitude surveillance drone, valued well over $100M, was in international airspace; Iran said it violated its airspace. The loss nearly triggered a US retaliatory strike.

Occurred 2019-06-20 · RQ-4 Global Hawk at Sigonella (NAS Sigonella, Sicily) · Northrop Grumman · Sigonella (NAS Sigonella, Sicily) · Drones

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Track Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4 (BAMS-D) surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz (2019)

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Sources (1)

  1. Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Iranian_shoot-down_of_American_drone

Common questions

What happened in Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4 (BAMS-D) surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz (2019)?
On June 20 2019 Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4N BAMS-D (a Broad Area Maritime Surveillance variant of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk) with a surface-to-air missile near the Strait of Hormuz. The US said the high-altitude surveillance drone, valued well over $100M, was in international airspace; Iran said it violated its airspace. The loss nearly triggered a US retaliatory strike.
When did this incident occur?
The incident is recorded as occurring on June 20, 2019 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 shot down a US Navy RQ-4 (BAMS-D) surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz (2019)?
RQ-4 Global Hawk by Northrop Grumman is the recorded robot involved in this incident at Sigonella (NAS Sigonella, Sicily).
Has anyone responded to Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4 (BAMS-D) surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz (2019)?
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 shot down a US Navy RQ-4 (BAMS-D) surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz (2019)?
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
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Knowledge base

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

Methodology surface for Iran shot down a US Navy RQ-4 (BAMS-D) surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz (2019).

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Canonical ID 0dd9b549-19ef-4118-aefa-707e9cd8e6eb