Re: That's Rich!
Except that, over Iran, the Reapers are promptly shot down. (And then carefully reverse engineered and copied - no doubt with improvements).
That's been a tradition in Iran. So pre-79 revolution, Iran was supplied with a lot of US kit. Then during the Iran-Iraq war in the '80s, got more US kit via (of all places) Israel. See the Iran-Contra affair for more details.
So ironically, the latest & greatest US drone was probably shot down by a Sayyad-2 missile that started life as a US SM-1, then modernised and updated with a pinch of Russian & Chinese technology to produce a political statement. And an expensive pile of scrap. But that's sanctions for you. Cut off international supply, and it creates a strong incentive to build up your own domestic industry, with help from nations who ignore the current sanctions.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
