US MQ-9 Drone Shot Down Over Western Iran, Air Defense Reach Confirmed

🛡️ WESTERN IRAN — MQ-9 down is a surveillance gap, not just a hardware loss. 📌 LOOK CLOSER: MQ-9s feed real-time targeting data into CENTCOM strike packages — losing one over western Iran holes the ISR loop at peak strike tempo. Western Iran is far from Hormuz: Iranian air defense retains reach well beyond the strait. Tehran gains a propaganda frame and a captured sensor suite. CENTCOM's next strike window runs partially blind.