Questions mounted Tuesday after a U.S. Apache helicopter crashed off Oman’s coast, with CENTCOM investigating the incident and drone experts pointing to a possible missile strike.
Cameron Chell, CEO of defense tech firm Draganfly, told Fox News Digital that a drone strike on a heavy attack helicopter is highly improbable.
“Iran does not have drones that take out Apaches; they have missiles that take out Apaches,” Chell said.
“Iranians typically also don't have ground-to-air drones, and they're not known for them, unless it's a new capability that they've developed.”
“Typical ground-to-air drone capabilities are used to take out other drones and not necessarily aircraft,” Chell added.
“They have drones that hit installations or target infrastructure, whether that's a ship or a plant, not an aircraft, as typical drones that take out air assets are built for taking out other drones. They're not taking out larger assets like a helicopter.”
Chell explained that existing Iranian drones do not move fast enough and are “not sophisticated enough” to hunt down a moving helicopter.
“An Iranian drone physically hitting a helicopter is just not in their arsenal right now.”
Instead, the evidence points to a completely different class of weaponry if the crash wasn't mechanical, he said.
“I would suggest that it was some sort of ground-to-air missile, and probably even likely shoulder-launched,” Chell explained.
“If it was hostile activity that took it down, it was some sort of ground-to-air missile and was probably shoulder-launched or shoulder-mounted.”
Chell also noted that the aircraft’s mission parameters might have set the stage for an accident.
“Apache helicopters are very often used in counter-drone operations, so maybe it got hit by a drone and was interacting with one—though I highly doubt it—or it may have been involved in a counter-drone operation and had some mechanical problems, and therefore went down separate from getting hit,” Chell added.
So far, Tehran has not taken an official stance on the crash or claimed responsibility.
“Normally, if they were to take out an air asset like this, they would be jumping up and down taking credit for it,” Chell concluded.
“This could have been a decentralized unit that executed this,” he said.
Posted by Emma Bussey
