Iran shoots down US drone

President Trump just tweeted that "Iran made a very big mistake."

Meanwhile Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and close ally of Trump, spoke to the President this morning about the escalating threat from Iran.

He told reporters his message to Trump is that the US cannot be bullied into going to the negotiating table with Iran and he said the President understands that.

The US military drone shot down by Iran was an RQ-4A Global Hawk, US Central Command said in a statement Thursday.

The Global Hawk has amassed more than 250,000 flight hours and has flown in support of US missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, according to its developer, the US national security contractor Northrop Grumman.

The RQ-4A is the original block of the drone, which was later modernized as the larger RQ-4B.

Carrying multiple sensor payloads, the aircraft “is designed to gather near-real-time, high-resolution imagery of large areas of land in all types of weather – day or night,” Northrop says.

A 2013 report from the US Government Accountability Office said each drone, which can reach altitudes of 60,000 feet (18.3 km), costs $222.7 million.

The Golden Hawk’s technology was later developed into the MG-4C Triton, a newer range of drone.

Iranian forces have shot down a United States military drone today, a move that could escalate an already tense relationship between the two countries.

If you're just catching up on the news, here's where things stand now:

UPDATE: A US official previously identified to CNN the model of the drone as a MQ-4C Triton, but US Central Command later said it was an RQ-4A Global Hawk.

The United States Central Command has said the US did not have any aircraft in Iranian airspace on Thursday (local time), disputing claims made by Iran.

“We did not have any aircraft in Iranian airspace today,” said Captain William Urban, spokesman for US Central Command.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) previously said the drone was flying in Iranian airspace.

The US drone shot down by Iran had masked its identification equipment after being launched from a US base south of the Gulf, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said Thursday, according to the country’s Fars news agency.

The statement said the US RQ-4A Global Hawk spying drone was launched at 00:14 a.m. local time on Thursday (3:44 p.m. ET on Wednesday) and flew from the Strait of Hormuz towards Chabahar. The IRGC said the drone was “breaking all aerospace rules and hiding its identification, which is against all aviation rules.”  

The IRGC statement added: “While returning to the western Hormuz Strait's region the drone violated Iran's airspace and engaged in information-gathering and spying. At 4.05 a.m. local time while the violating airplane was over Iranian territory it was shot down by IRGC.”

The time given in the statement places the attack at 7:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

UPDATE: A US official previously identified to CNN the model of the drone as a MQ-4C Triton, but US Central Command later said it was an RQ-4A Global Hawk.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman has condemned the “violation” of its airspace, according to a report in the country's Tasnim news agency on Thursday.

According to Tasnim, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Syed Abbas Mousavi said: “We strongly condemn this kind of aggressive and provocative action. We warn against any violation of Iran's airspace by foreign flying objects and declare that violators are responsible for the consequences of their actions.”

UPDATE: A US official previously identified to CNN the model of the drone as a MQ-4C Triton, but US Central Command later said it was an RQ-4A Global Hawk. This post contains information on the MQ-4C Triton. For information on the RQ-4A go here.

The MQ-4C Triton is a drone designed by US national security contractor Northrop Grumman.

It is the larger, maritime-optimized cousin to Northrop's Global Hawk, and is capable of carrying out surveillance missions for up to 24 hours, with a sensor that provides a 360-degree view of its surroundings for over 2,000 nautical miles.

Triton operates from "five land-based sites worldwide as a part of a family of maritime patrol and reconnaissance systems," according to the United States Government Accountability Office. Designs on the drone started in 2008 and it had its first flight in 2013, before reaching Initial Operational Capability (IOC) last year.

The US Navy has ordered 68 of the aircraft, which had a reported total program cost of $12.7 billion. Australia is also spending $6.2 billion to acquire six of the aircraft.

We are still awaiting a response from President Donald Trump to Thursday's attack on a US drone.

But in recent days, even as tensions have risen between Washington and Tehran, Trump has appeared to contradict some of his senior defense officials by downplaying the threat.

Days after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration continues to consider military options for dealing with Iran, Trump dismissed the idea in an interview with Time magazine. Asked whether he was considering military action against Tehran, the President said: "I wouldn't say that. I can't say that at all."

Trump also called the attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman, which his administration has blamed on Iran, as "very minor."

Then, in an interview with Fox News, Trump was asked collectively about tensions with Iran, China and Russia. "Don't worry about a thing," Trump said, describing issues with those nations as being "under control."

Tensions between Washington and Tehran were heightened last week, when two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman.

US officials blame Iran for conducting attacks against oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, which Iran denied. President Donald Trump himself accused Iran of being behind the provocation, telling Fox News last week: "It was them that did it."

The US Navy took CNN's Sam Kiley to view the damaged tanker. Watch the video above, and read Sam Kiley's analysis on the attacks here.