482nd Squadron Tracks Object Over Strait of Hormuz, 2020

Brief

On 15-16 September 2020, a single redacted-asset aircraft from the 482nd Attack Squadron flew a 20-hour, 56-minute ISR mission from OKAS over the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, and Gulf of Oman, tasked by NAVCENT to characterize Iranian naval vessels, UAS activity, and port activity. At 1732Z on 16 September, while flying at FL180 at 90 KIAS, the crew observed a UAP via Full Motion Video in the vicinity of grid 39RVM5[redacted]; the war.gov listing describes the UAP's estimated altitude as 1,800 feet, though that figure does not appear in the extractable page text. The mission also recorded three Iranian Air Defense guard calls and two electromagnetic interference events of unknown type, each causing complete link loss and assessed as medium mission impact. FMV footage was subsequently exploited by DGSI.

Metadata

Agency

Department of War

Release

5/8/26

Incident

9/16/20

Location

Strait of Hormuz

Type

PDF • .pdf

Length

9 pages

Classification

UNCLASSIFIED (declassified)

Tags

UAP, FMV observation, Strait of Hormuz, Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, 2020, ISR sortie, ANDAS4 sensor, EMI/link-loss events

Key points

• UAP observed at 1732Z via FMV sensor; aircraft was at FL180 (18,000 ft) and 90 KIAS at time of observation; UAP location recorded as grid 39RVM5[redacted].p.8
• The war.gov description states the UAP was at an estimated altitude of 1,800 feet; this figure does not appear in the extractable page text and cannot be page-cited.p.1
• FMV footage from the mission was exploited by DGSI after the sortie.p.1
• Total mission time: 20 hours 56 minutes; 19.3 SIGINT hours and 15.2 IMINT hours prosecuted across two total taskings.p.1
• Three Iranian Air Defense guard calls intercepted: two directive-tone at FL180 (0408Z, 0421Z) and one professional-tone at FL040 (1141Z); all had no mission impact.p.6
• Two EMI events of unknown type each caused complete link loss: 1248Z-1259Z (11 min, JSIR ID330412) and 1414Z-1441Z (27 min, JSIR ID330414); both assessed as medium mission impact and caused flight path deviations.p.7
• At 0930Z, an IR-type launcher was observed on Abu Musa Island; at 1321Z, two possible HOUDONG-class vessels were observed docked pierside at grid 39RXL6[redacted].p.5
• Original declassification date was 20450301 (March 1, 2045); declassified early by MG Richard A. Harrison, USCENTCOM Chief of Staff, on 22 January 2026 under USCENTCOM MOR 26-0019.p.1

Verbatim

• PRECOORD WAS SATISFACTORY

  p.5

Most interesting

• The aircraft was at FL040 (4,000 ft) during the third Iranian Air Defense guard call, significantly lower than the FL180 maintained during the first two; the descent sometime between 0421Z and 1141Z is unexplained in the extractable text.
• Both EMI events are classified as unknown type, with the affected system and frequency redacted under exemption 1.4(g), indicating classified electronic systems were disrupted.
• Abu Musa Island, where the IR-type launcher was observed at 0930Z, is a disputed Persian Gulf island claimed by both Iran and the UAE, anchoring the ISR tasking in an active territorial flashpoint.
• The UAP observation gentext on page 8 contains no qualitative physical description beyond the grid coordinate — bearing, range, and object characteristics are all either not recorded or redacted.
• The war.gov description places the UAP at approximately 1,800 feet while the aircraft flew at FL180 (18,000 ft), implying a roughly 16,200-foot vertical separation — but that 1,800-foot figure appears only in the agency blurb, not in the MISREP pages themselves.
• The sortie's nearly 21-hour duration and redacted asset type under exemptions 1.4(a) and 1.4(g) are consistent with a high-altitude, long-endurance ISR platform; the aircraft callsign and tail number are fully redacted throughout the document.