U.S. MQ-1C Gray Eagle aircraft reportedly crashed in Iraq
The MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system (UAS) has reportedly crashed near Bagdad, Iraq.
The U.S. military’s spokesman for operations in Iraq and Syria has confirmed that a coalition Unmanned Aerial Vehicle made an unscheduled landing in Baghdad Wednesday due to a mechanical problem.
“The aircraft landed safely and was successfully recovered by Iraqi Security Force troops. No one was injured and no property was damaged in the landing or recovery,” a spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, said on Friday.
No further details on the type of aircraft have been released, but local media have released photo showed the crashed MQ-1C unmanned aircraft in a field.
The Gray Eagle crashed southwest of Baghdad on farmland in the town of Radwaniyah, Iraq’s pro-Iran Buratha News Agency reported, citing a local source.
The undamaged drone was quickly moved to an unknown location, and could have come down due to electronic interference or have been intercepted by a cyber-attack, the source suggested.
The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). It was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) for the United States Army as an upgrade of the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator.
The U.S. Army’s website said the MQ-1C Gray Eagle provides the warfighter with dedicated, assured, multimission UAS capabilities across all 10 Army divisions to support commanders’ combat operations and Army Special Forces and Intelligence and Security Command.
