Unic Press UK: An Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) unsafely/unprofessionally reached very close to a U.S. Navy Aircraft, the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement today.
“While operating in international airspace in the Central Arabian Gulf, an F/A-18E Super Hornet from the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147 assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) had an unsafe and unprofessional interaction with an Iranian QOM-1 unmanned aerial vehicle Aug. 8. Despite repeated radio calls to stay clear of active fixed-wing flight operations in vicinity of USS Nimitz, the QOM-1 executed unsafe and unprofessional altitude changes in the close vicinity of an F/A-18E in a holding pattern preparing to land on the aircraft carrier. The F/A-18E maneuvered to avoid collision with the QOM-1 resulting in a lateral separation of approximately 200 feet and a vertical separation of approximately 100 feet. The dangerous maneuver by the QOM-1 in the known vicinity of fixed wing flight operations and at coincident altitude with operating aircraft created a collision hazard and is not in keeping with international maritime customs and laws. This is the 13th unsafe and/or unprofessional interaction between U.S. and Iranian maritime forces in 2017.” (U.S. Naval Forces Central Command: 8th August 2017)
It is no longer unusual for the Iranian military to intercept the movement of a ship or an aircraft that come close to its territory. In fact, many countries (the U.S. included) regularly scramble jets or ships to ‘challenge’ state actors that encroach into their airspace or land borders.
Circa two weeks’ ago, a U.S. Navy ship fired its ammunition close to an Iranian vessel in the Persian Gulf when the vessel reached within 150 yards of the U.S. ship. This is a rare case as it took a live fire to force the Iranian vessel to change course.
The primary concern is that this sort of incident seems to be happening quite often, thereby increasing the risk of an accident.
