(Update 1114ET): Some surprising details and admissions have emerged out of the Pentagon on Monday connected to the drone attack on Jordanian base Tower 22, related to the question of how the base's anti-air defenses could have failed so badly. First, in our prior reporting (below), we linked to Moon of Alabama which asked some key questions not being addressed amid the frenzy of international reporting and growing speculation [emphasis ZH]:
The reporting so far does not answer many arising questions. Tower 22 is on the Jordanian side of the boarder but Jordan insists that no attack had happened on its grounds.
Another anomaly are the high rate of wounded from the alleged drone strike. Drones are used in mass in the Ukraine war but the casualties they cause are usually less than a handful per drone.
The highly automated short and medium range air-defenses (C-RAMs, the equivalent of naval Phalanx guns) at the base should be able to shoot down any drone. Why didn't they work?
Later in the day Monday, some of these questions are being answered. The Wall Street Journal cited US officials who spoke to the failure of the base's anti-air defenses:
The U.S. failed to stop a deadly attack on an American military outpost in Jordan because the enemy drone approached its target at the same time a U.S. drone was also returning to base, U.S. officials said Monday.
The return of the U.S. drone led to some confusion over whether the incoming drone was friend or foe, officials have concluded so far.
The enemy drone was launched from Iraq by a militia backed by Tehran, U.S. officials said. The outpost, Tower 22, sits in Jordan, hard on the borders of Iraq and Syria.
In total three US service members died and at least 34 were injured, with eight of these having been medically evacuated to a hospital in Germany.
At a moment some US Congressional hawks are clamoring to start a war with Iran, WSJ writes further, "The U.S. has yet to find evidence thus far that Iran directed the attack, a U.S. defense official said Monday."
Below is an example of a C-RAM in action... this is what ideally should have happened as the inbound enemy drone got closer to the Tower 22 base:
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