What Shot Down The Iranian Drone?

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Last week the United States Marine Corps has managed to neutralize an Iranian drone flying over the Persian Gulf.

Apparently the Iranian drone has been flying too close to U.S. Navy ships and has been giving several calls to divert away from the ship. Eventually, U.S. forces were left with no choice but to jam the enemy UAV using the relatively new Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (LMADIS).

U.S. president Trump has defended that actions of the Navy stating: “the United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, our facilities and interests and calls upon all nations to condemn Iran’s attempt to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce.” This comes just weeks after Iran has shot down an American UAV in the same area of the Persian Gulf.

LMADIS, the system used to shoot down the Iranian UAV, is a maneuverable system that is installed on MRZR vehicles. One MRZR works as a command vehicle and the other is an electronic warfare platform. The system is often used on the ground, however it has been tested on military ships.

The system is capable of scanning the skies using cameras and radar. It is capable of distinguishing between friendly and hostile vehicles. When an enemy drone is detected, the system utilizes radio frequencies to jam the drone, thus bringing it down.

Military.com reports that this was not the first operational use of the LMADIS system aboard a Navy ship. Marine Corps have used the system on an amphibious assault ship during a transit through the Suez Canal just a few months ago.