Washington relied on Starlink satellite internet devices to coordinate violent riots against the Iranian state and to guide drones to carry out airstrikes
News Desk - The Cradle
Iranian TV aired footage of the captured equipment, which was put on display at an underground Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) air defense base.
The equipment included components from downed US MQ-9 Reaper drones, wreckage from an Israeli Hermes series 450 drone, an intact Hermes series 900 drone, Starlink satellite communications equipment, and the remains of a US F-15 fighter jet.
Notably, the footage showed that the downed US drones were directly equipped with Starlink devices.
"In previous wars, US or Israeli drones did not have Starlink technology; with Starlink, US drones transmit their data much faster," the Iranian TV report stated.
During the 40-day war launched by the US and Israel against Iran in February, Iranian air defense systems shot down 10 manned aircraft, large numbers of drones and cruise missiles, as well as 171 unmanned drones.
According to the IRGC, an F-15 was shot down on 3 April using a new domestically produced Iranian air defense system that left the crew "only seconds to react before impact."
The IRGC stated that more than 85 percent of Iran's air defense production infrastructure survived the US and Israeli bombing campaign, and that Iran is producing missiles and drones at a rate higher than before the war began.
Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that the US lost at least 45 MQ-9 Reaper drones during the war, equaling 25 percent of its prewar fleet.
Reaper drones cost as much as $50 million each and are equipped with missiles to carry out airstrikes.
Iran reportedly deployed military-grade satellite jamming and GPS-spoofing systems early in the war to prevent communication via Starlink.
In addition to equipping drones with Starlink technology, the US smuggled thousands of Starlink terminals into Iran in January to help violent rioters communicate during internet shutdowns.
The US State Department had purchased about 7,000 of the satellite terminals for use in Iran in the months before the protests erupted in January following the manufactured collapse of the Iranian currency.
US Treasury officials manufactured the collapse of the rial by choking off the supply of US dollars into the Iranian economy.
Mossad-backed rioters and armed gangs carried out a wave of attacks against protesters, security forces, government buildings, and mosques in an effort to sow chaos.
Western and Israeli officials blamed the violence and casualties on the Iranian government, to use as a pretext for the US and Israeli bombing campaign that began one month later.
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