The unarmed Iranian drone that flew over a U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf last month is similar to those that can carry missiles and was the first to conduct an overflight of an American carrier since 2014, Navy records obtained Wednesday showed.
The Jan. 12 reconnaissance flight by Iran's Shahed drone over the USS Harry S. Truman while a French aircraft carrier sailed nearby marked the latest tense naval encounter between the United States and Iran since Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers.
It suggests that incidents like it, as well as another that saw Iranian speedboats fire rockets near U.S. warships and commercial traffic in late December, remain a danger in Gulf waterways crucial to global oil supplies.
“You're one broken rocket fin away from creating a serious international incident that could have had unfortunate consequences,” said Cmdr. Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for the Navy's 5th Fleet based in Bahrain.
The Associated Press obtained video of the drone and a report about the overflight from the Navy through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The report said the drone flight happened as the Truman and the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle were in international waters 89 nautical miles southwest of the Iranian port of Bushehr.
A French helicopter watched the Shahed-121 drone on the cloudy day, and the Navy dispatched a Seahawk helicopter to film it as it flew over the Truman, a nuclear-powered carrier based out of Norfolk, Va.
The local Navy task force first described the drone's overflight as “safe, routine and professional.” But the internal report says the Navy's higher command later called it “safe, abnormal and unprofessional,” as Iranian drones seldom fly over U.S. carriers.
