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Trump Says U.S. Ship Shot Down Iranian Drone in Strait of Hormuz

25 points by breck 7y ago

solsticedev 7y ago
Where in this article does it cite "electronic jamming"? Just curious where the title is from here as it doesn't seem to match the article
- dang 7y ago
  Submitted title was 'U.S. Destroys Iranian drone using “electronic jamming”'. We changed it to the article title as the site guidelines ask. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- giarc 7y ago
  It is mentioned in this article. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-iranian-drone/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-i...
- heavymark 7y ago
  They presumably first read an article on another site such as CNN that mentions electronic jamming: https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-iranian-drone/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-i... but then decided to share an article based on it from a particular well known source such as WSJ in this case, that happens not to mention what they included in the title. So yes, the person should have shared the actual article they read and that they based on the title on.
  - breck 7y ago
    My fault. That's exactly what happened. I saw it first on CNN, but posted the WSJ article (just because I find WSJ to generally be a better source), but it was only after posting that I realized the WSJ didn't mention "electronic jamming", which was actually the reason why I thought it was interesting to HN in the first place. Curious why the WSJ did not mention that.
- alistairSH 7y ago
  The linked article doesn't mention it. CNN reports[1]: The drone was destroyed using electronic jamming, according to a US defense official 1 - https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-iranian-drone/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-i...
devoply 7y ago
Let's just agree that anyone's drones are completely fair game for anyone else with the means to destroy them. Their destruction is not justification for anything other than a claim for damages in court.
- kulix425 7y ago
  World governments will most certainly not adopt this view when their drone is shot down.
- azernik 7y ago
  Seems to be the stance both sides here are taking - a big factor in the US not responding to the shootdown a few weeks back is that it was just a drone.
- ilikehurdles 7y ago
  I agree. Spies, when detected, are often killed by the country they are operating in. Why should the machinery of a drone have a higher value on it than human life?
- EpicEng 7y ago
  >Their destruction is not justification for anything other than a claim for damages in court. No one is going ballistic over downed drones (not yet at least), but only damages? C'mon, be serious. These things are often classified tech in their own right and may contain classified information. Back and forth like this between sovereign countries is not really a matter for a civil court.
  - eloff 7y ago
    Not true. Trump nearly retaliated over a downed drone with an attack estimated to cost Iranians 100 lives. He called it off at the last minute when confronted with the potential death toll. I like to think that was all theatre for the benefit of Iran, but you never can tell with trump between crazy on purpose and well just crazy.
    - 7y ago
SEJeff 7y ago
It was mentioned somewhere that the USS Boxer had the LMADIS. This article has a bit more about it: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/01/31/the-corps-strapped-a-new-counter-drone-system-to-the-deck-of-a-warship-transiting-the-suez-canal-heres-why/ https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019... The LMADIS is entirely EW (electronic warfare) with no direct kinetic kill ability.
- souprock 7y ago
  What makes that really interesting is that the Marines are strapping land vehicles onto ships to add capability. This is such a hack. Want another weapon or sensor for the ship? Add an entire truck that has it, including the wheels and engine and everything else. Somebody gets to sit in the truck.
  - SEJeff 7y ago
    Why is it a hack? You have an emerging threat the existing assault ships aren't scoped to handle, and you find a cheap expedient way to handle it. If we (heaven forbid!) did end up going to war with Iran, do you not think Marines would need to land? Do you not think they'd need counter-drone vehicles to survive? Seems like an odd couple, but a good use of tactics to me.
- SEJeff 7y ago
  And this is now confirmed: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29063/marine-anti-drone-buggies-on-uss-boxer-knocked-down-threatening-iranian-drone https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29063/marine-anti-dron...
balt_s 7y ago
I for one look forward to the inevitably patriotic, tear-jerker ending to the film depicting the US military demolishing these dang terrorists. Hopefully we get a solid win at the 2026 Oscars...
aaron695 7y ago
"Iran’s announcement came after days of speculation that a United Arab Emirates-based tanker had been captured by Iran after vanishing from radars." I find this quite WTF, but nice that not everything is tracked, but still WTF. Conformation it's was LMADIS "Here's the New Marine Corps Weapon that Just Destroyed an Iranian Drone" https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/18/heres-new-marine-corps-weapon-just-destroyed-iranian-drone.html#.XTDq7aC8zYs.twitter https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/18/heres-new-mar...

25 points by breck 7y ago

Where in this article does it cite "electronic jamming"? Just curious where the title is from here as it doesn't seem to match the article

dang 7y ago
Submitted title was 'U.S. Destroys Iranian drone using “electronic jamming”'. We changed it to the article title as the site guidelines ask. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
giarc 7y ago
It is mentioned in this article. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-iranian-drone/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-i...
heavymark 7y ago
They presumably first read an article on another site such as CNN that mentions electronic jamming: https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-iranian-drone/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-i... but then decided to share an article based on it from a particular well known source such as WSJ in this case, that happens not to mention what they included in the title. So yes, the person should have shared the actual article they read and that they based on the title on.
- breck 7y ago
  My fault. That's exactly what happened. I saw it first on CNN, but posted the WSJ article (just because I find WSJ to generally be a better source), but it was only after posting that I realized the WSJ didn't mention "electronic jamming", which was actually the reason why I thought it was interesting to HN in the first place. Curious why the WSJ did not mention that.
alistairSH 7y ago
The linked article doesn't mention it. CNN reports[1]: The drone was destroyed using electronic jamming, according to a US defense official 1 - https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-iranian-drone/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/politics/trump-us-destroyed-i...

devoply 7y ago

Let's just agree that anyone's drones are completely fair game for anyone else with the means to destroy them. Their destruction is not justification for anything other than a claim for damages in court.

kulix425 7y ago
World governments will most certainly not adopt this view when their drone is shot down.
azernik 7y ago
Seems to be the stance both sides here are taking - a big factor in the US not responding to the shootdown a few weeks back is that it was just a drone.
ilikehurdles 7y ago
I agree. Spies, when detected, are often killed by the country they are operating in. Why should the machinery of a drone have a higher value on it than human life?
EpicEng 7y ago
>Their destruction is not justification for anything other than a claim for damages in court. No one is going ballistic over downed drones (not yet at least), but only damages? C'mon, be serious. These things are often classified tech in their own right and may contain classified information. Back and forth like this between sovereign countries is not really a matter for a civil court.
- eloff 7y ago
  Not true. Trump nearly retaliated over a downed drone with an attack estimated to cost Iranians 100 lives. He called it off at the last minute when confronted with the potential death toll. I like to think that was all theatre for the benefit of Iran, but you never can tell with trump between crazy on purpose and well just crazy.
  - 7y ago

SEJeff 7y ago

It was mentioned somewhere that the USS Boxer had the LMADIS. This article has a bit more about it: https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019/01/31/the-corps-strapped-a-new-counter-drone-system-to-the-deck-of-a-warship-transiting-the-suez-canal-heres-why/ https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2019... The LMADIS is entirely EW (electronic warfare) with no direct kinetic kill ability.

souprock 7y ago
What makes that really interesting is that the Marines are strapping land vehicles onto ships to add capability. This is such a hack. Want another weapon or sensor for the ship? Add an entire truck that has it, including the wheels and engine and everything else. Somebody gets to sit in the truck.
- SEJeff 7y ago
  Why is it a hack? You have an emerging threat the existing assault ships aren't scoped to handle, and you find a cheap expedient way to handle it. If we (heaven forbid!) did end up going to war with Iran, do you not think Marines would need to land? Do you not think they'd need counter-drone vehicles to survive? Seems like an odd couple, but a good use of tactics to me.
SEJeff 7y ago
And this is now confirmed: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29063/marine-anti-drone-buggies-on-uss-boxer-knocked-down-threatening-iranian-drone https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/29063/marine-anti-dron...

balt_s 7y ago

I for one look forward to the inevitably patriotic, tear-jerker ending to the film depicting the US military demolishing these dang terrorists. Hopefully we get a solid win at the 2026 Oscars...

aaron695 7y ago

"Iran’s announcement came after days of speculation that a United Arab Emirates-based tanker had been captured by Iran after vanishing from radars." I find this quite WTF, but nice that not everything is tracked, but still WTF. Conformation it's was LMADIS "Here's the New Marine Corps Weapon that Just Destroyed an Iranian Drone" https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/18/heres-new-marine-corps-weapon-just-destroyed-iranian-drone.html#.XTDq7aC8zYs.twitter https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/18/heres-new-mar...