The clean up they have done makes it very hard to see IMHO.

" the road there is scorched / cratered Secondary explosion from a vehicle?"
Agree, I think something was on the road that instantaneously combusted and burnt to the ground.

"What I do find interesting is the structure in the desert to the southeast, but still within the outer compound security fence
That looks like a filled in impact crater to me. A big one. Might just be a dry water hole, but that doesn't look right. Unfortunately its outside the high-res imagery. But whatever it is, its over 100 yards across"

I hope I am looking at the same thing as you.

The google earth image I gave you has a scale on it so we can now work out the Exact sizes of things.

I diagree with what it is. I don't think it is a dry water hole, I look at those often here in Aus, it has too much of a earthen berm around one side.

I think it is man made, it looks like a semi circular earthen berm has been made as you can see the scape marks on BOTH sides of the ridge. It has height to it (the berm). Have a look at the scrape marks of the berm round the outside of the facility, you can see the same scrape marks.

Their is also another one in an inverted L shape just below it.


Here is something else interesting to look at North North West of the compound.

Their is a OLD square earthen shape but inside this and off to the east it looks like Bomb Craters. Also some other interesting craters to the NW of it and a line of something to the South of the square earthen shape. I'll defer here to the RAF boys - are these bomb craters ?

SSW of the main compound is a large earth covered structure, to the south of which would appear to be a row of static engine test beds with blast or eflux marks on the ground.

You hardly need to be a rocket scientist to work out what was going on at this site!

Small arms weapons range? Small burning area?

They look like craters, and the straight line in which they appear would help indicate as such too.

I think perhaps the whole larger area is something of a test area.

Interesting parallel lines just outside of the berm to the south, about 20' apart.

There's another 'facility' a couple of miles due north, and what could be a military HQ (with a 200'x250' parade ground? - it also generally looks very spick & span so maybe Revolutionary Guard) 2 miles due east.

The built up area 4.75 miles 325 degrees from the explosion looks very orderly too, and far bigger than the villages around it.

Willard
Good pick ups, hadn't looked out that far, Agree with what they are.

Ed
Agree.


It will be interesting to see what, if anything comes out in the future.

.

500N wrote

The bomb craters could also have been from the Iran-Iraq war? The earthen square looks quite old. The Iraqi's used Tu-22 Blinder and Tu-16 Badgers on strikes deep inside Iran. Possibly radar bombing against the target?

TEEEJ
Interesting point. I agree everything looks quite old.

I love how we can get to bomb craters via a little untrained photo analysis:D

Those are holes dug down for the irrigation system unless I am very much mistaken. You see them all over Afghanistan as you fly around.

I am willing to be proved wrong as I am also totally untrained in photo analysis, but I bet they are "karez" holes

Certainly is a test area, but for rocket motors rather than warheads. The holes in a line are, as Tourist says, water holes - note the ones that have caved in north of the site. But also look at the blast marks from tied-down rocket motors in the site to the south of the site.

This is rocket city, not warhead testing.

That said, the last page or two has seen some really good analays. Well done you guys. Keep it coming. :ok:

Tourist,

Thank you - knowledge of LOCAL customs and structures is an enormous help
and that's what was missing in making a correct analysis. To me they looked like the holes I've blown in the ground using ANFO hence my question of "are they bomb craters" as I couldn't see them being that.

I did a quick look up of Karez holes. A couple of nice pictures here that to the untrained eye is deceiving.
Hitch on Heroin, and Other Perspectives
Karez water system in the Turpan Depression in China - 42-24355457 - Rights Managed - Stock Photo - Corbis


I think most of us are "untrained in photo analysis" unless someone here used to do it in the RAF and is willing to chime in. I only ever looked at structures in aerial photos before it was "exercise raided".


Edit

Tourist
By the way, "bet" is a dangerous word to use around here:O

As you will see from post 4 (though actually #2 due to tPprune temporal shiftage) of this thread, I have no concerns about betting.
The trick, I always find, is to be correct.:)

Tourist,
My apologise, I had forgotten it was you who originally called out SAM
and I followed your lead. Only 11 more days to go.
.

The holes in line are probably what are known as quanats in Iran - a system of culverts with a hole to the surface at regular intervals.There are many of these in the Karaj area - I used to fly r/c models near Karaj in the 1970's

New development:

Breaking News - Iran: US Drone Shot Down in East, State TV Reports | World News | Sky News

I bet SAM will tell us that it was actually a B2

Iran TV: US Spy Drone Shot Down By Military

http://www.defenceaviation.com/wp-co.../12/rq-160.jpg

Iran's military has shot down an unmanned US aircraft over the east of the country, state TV has reported.

"Iran's military has downed an intruding RQ-170 American drone in eastern Iran," Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam state television network quoted an unnamed military source as saying. A report on English-language Press TV said the drone was "downed with minimum damage" and seized by Iranian officials close to the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The RQ-170 Sentinel is an unmanned stealth aircraft used for reconnaissance. It is not designed to carry weapons.

The semi-official Fars news agency, which is believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard military force, said Iran would respond to the violation of its airspace with actions beyond its own borders..........

bit of a windfall for the Chinese then
I assume the technology transfer works both ways...

Ooh. "Outside their borders". Get SAM back here pronto. I wonder where that will be?

The image that the Iranian news agency is using is a Dassault AVE drone.

http://www.defenceaviation.com/wp-co.../12/rq-160.jpg

http://www.dassault-aviation.com/en/...drone.html?L=1

Dassault image link

http://www.dassault-aviation.com/fil...AVEC_3163r.JPG

RQ-170 Sentinel

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/3474/bigbeast.jpg

http://defenseindex.com/wp-content/u.../RQ-170_41.jpg

http://defenseindex.com/wp-content/u...ahar_taxi1.jpg

Well spotted, Dude. I have to admit, I didn't even look at the pictures. Must pay more attention to detail. Hang on, my flight commander used to say that to me years ago. Should have listened.

So, do you think they're making it all up as they go along?

Its probably just a mistake by a sub-editor on the news report
Tehran Times is now also reporting it, but with a correct (stock) photo
Iran shoots down U.S. spy drone: reports - Tehran Times

They add the comment
"The cyber warfare unit managed to take over controls of the drone and bring it down, a military official said, according to the TV."
Notice they are being very careful to indirectly quote the military and so hedge around the issue of truth

Mach Two wrote

ISAF says drone lost over Afghanistan late last week

(Reuters) - A surveillance drone flying over western Afghanistan had gone out of control late last week and may be the one Iran said it had shot down over its own airspace, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said on Sunday.

"The UAV to which the Iranians are referring may be a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week. The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status," an ISAF statement said.

The statement about the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was issued in Kabul and released to reporters covering an international conference on Afghanistan in the German city Bonn.

ISAF says drone lost over Afghanistan late last week | Reuters