ARCHIVE 2019: CENTCOM video of smoke trail from Navy RQ-4 shot down over Hormuz

Grey infrared sensor view with an orange crosshair and corner brackets: a dark, jagged smoke trail falls diagonally from the top of the frame, with the side data panels blurred. — U.S. Central Command video by Thomas Gagnier, via DVIDS · Public domain (U.S. Central Command video, DVIDS)

Video released June 20, 2019 by U.S. Central Command. CENTCOM says a U.S. Navy BAMS-D, a variant of the RQ-4A Global Hawk, was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz at about 11:35 p.m. GMT on June 19, 2019; Iran said the aircraft was over its territory, which CENTCOM called false. The 15-second infrared clip shows a dark smoke trail falling across a grey sky, with sensor data blurred by the military. Archive item tied to the IRGC's unverified Oct. 20, 2026 claim to have downed a U.S. MQ-9 over the strait (exeindex record dispatch:2026-10-20-ir-mq9-hormuz-claim).

What: ARCHIVE 2019: CENTCOM video of smoke trail from Navy RQ-4 shot down over Hormuz
Where: Strait of Hormuz
When: Jun 20, 2019
Who: U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), via DVIDS
Status: Official release
Warning: Content warning: None. Infrared view of a smoke trail from an unmanned aircraft; no people involved. Graphic level: none.

Sources

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), via DVIDS · DVIDS video 691395: U.S. Navy RQ-4 smoke (U.S. Central Command, June 20, 2019)

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Record details

Captured 20 June 2019. Time captured: not stated. Releasing authority: U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), via DVIDS. Location: Strait of Hormuz.

Watch at source

Credit: U.S. Central Command video by Thomas Gagnier, via DVIDS. License: Public domain (U.S. Central Command video, DVIDS).

Archive · 20 June 2019