$21M US Spy Drone Crashes in Iraq, Guy Gets Selfie With It

A Pentagon spokesman said the aircraft was returning from an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission when “technical complications” caused a loss of communication with the aircraft July 16. A spokesman for the Defense Department said the military is working with Iraqi authorities to recover the MC-1Q.

David, who didn’t elaborate on what the broken drone was used for, said the broken UAV wasn’t carrying any weapon.

Unverified pictures circulating on Twitter showed Iraqis posing for selfies in front of what appeared to be a crashed drone, but it wasn’t clear if the device was the same as the one lost by the U.S.

This drone was not the first to crash in Iraq or Syria.

Three crashes have also occurred in Yemen in the past 15 months, according to the Washington Post.

Drones’ ability to surveil and strike enemies without endangering American forces has made them a key component of US warfare overseas, particularly in the U.S.-led campaign to defeat the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

The Pentagon has confirmed what active social media users already knew: That a General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle drone crashed in the middle of nowhere in Iraq.