It means the Iranians could shoot at a rescue helo, but can't send out their own boats to nab the pilots, nor detect and engage the rescue boat.
#10 | Posted by sitzkrieg
Why would they do that?
Why bother nabbing the pilots?
What in that action is to their benefit?
Isn't Iran sitting pretty right now? No "hot" war and getting revenue from controlling the strait.
Why would Iran put that in jeopardy by capturing a couple of pilots that Piggy would have to retaliate massively?
People fail to understand that Iran has everything they want
This is the new normal, Iran controlling the strait, taking a toll on every ship that passes, paid for by the rest of the world.
That is not going to change any time soon.
So, yeah, grabbing a couple of pilots would be about the worst thing they could do.
Now if they DID shoot down the copter, it shows, at relatively low cost/risk they are capable of projecting force.
Which helps them control the strait.
This is all pretty simple, seems most people haven't caught on yet.
If 7 years of upper middle class income isn't sweet enough of a deal to risk your life grabbing an American pilot, because why would you when you can just bang on a keyboard?
For the minimum wage Iranians, it's 41 years of income. Enough to make you think about taking a fishing boat to the site of where that helicopter went in. Except now there's a bunch of converted 737s, F-18s, F-35s, satellites, etc, staring at that spot ready to rain harpoons on you.