American officials say an Air Force MQ-9 Reaper was shot at by an Iranian missile as it overflew two tankers that were attacked in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday.
The unmanned aerial vehicle was monitoring the aftermath of the attacks on M/V Kokuka Courageous and M/V Front Altair when an Iranian surface to air missile was fired at the MQ-9, according to a Sunday statement from U.S. Central Command.
“On June 13, 2019, according to our assessment, a modified Iranian SA-7 surface-to-air missile attempted to shoot down a U.S. MQ-9 over the Gulf of Oman to disrupt surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous,” Lt. Col. Earl Brown said the statement.
“The MQ-9 had arrived minutes earlier at 6:20 a.m. local time at the motor tanker (M/T) Altair and had observed the ship on fire.”
According to U.S. Central Command, the missile was ineffective and never came closer than a kilometer from the MQ-9.
CENTCOM did neither provide additional imagery or video to accompany the statement nor say if the Reaper was armed.
On Thursday, the U.S. released video footage of personnel in military uniforms in a small attack craft along the starboard side of Kokuka Courageous. While CENTCOM didn’t specify where the footage came from, it’s likely it originated from the electro-optical sensors aboard MQ-9.
In addition to the MQ-9 over the Gulf of Oman, Central Command confirmed that Houthi forces in Yemen had successfully shot down an MQ-9 on June 6 with an SQ-6 surface-to-air missile.
“The altitude of the engagement indicated an improvement over previous Houthi capability, which we assess was enabled by Iranian assistance,” the statement read.
The following is the complete June 16, 2019 statement from U.S. Central Command.
TAMPA, Florida, June 16, 2019 —
A U.S. MQ-9 was shot down over Yemen by what we assess to be a Houthi SA-6 surface to air missile on Jun 6, 2019. The altitude of the engagement indicated an improvement over previous Houthi capability, which we assess was enabled by Iranian assistance.
On June 13, 2019, according to our assessment, a modified Iranian SA-7 surface-to-air missile attempted to shoot down a U.S. MQ-9 over the Gulf of Oman to disrupt surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous. The MQ-9 had arrived minutes earlier at 6:20 a.m. local time at the motor tanker (M/T) Altair and had observed the ship on fire.
The SA-7 was ineffective and its closest point of approach to the MQ-9 was approximately one kilometer.
Subsequent analysis indicates that this was a likely attempt to shoot down or otherwise disrupt the MQ-9 surveillance of the IRGC attack on the M/T Kokuka Courageous.
Lt. Col. Earl Brown, U.S. Central Command Spokesman
