Iran Unveils New Home-Made Drones
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran put on display two brand-new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which have been developed indigenously.
The homegrown aircraft are dubbed Sadeq (Sincere) and Nazer (Observer).
Evidently, Sadeq is a combat drone, while Nazer appears to have been designed for patrol and surveillance programs.
Sadeq is equipped with a front camera on the nose gear. Photos of the drone suggest it would be sent aloft by a launcher, since it has no wheels.
The wingspan of the aircraft measures nearly 4 meters. It is equipped with an engine installed on the rear fuselage.
And Nazer is indeed a small pilotless chopper, which is usually employed for reconnaissance and border patrol missions.
Given its low engine noise, Nazer appears to be a good option for the fights against drug-traffickers and culprits in the border areas. The aircraft can be used for the traffic control operations as well.
The Islamic Republic is now in possession of a broad range of UAVs which can be used for both civilian and military purposes.
In September 2013, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) inaugurated the production line of the advanced indigenous ‘Shahed 129’ drone, whose reconnaissance version had been unveiled in 2012.
Once refueled, the domestically-made drone has 24-hour flight endurance and can be used for various missions. Shahed 129 enjoys high precision strike capability and has an operational range of 1,700 km. The combat drone can carry a payload of 8 bombs or smart missiles and is designed to hit both fixed and mobile targets.
In November 2013, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan unveiled a high-tech UAV, known as “Fotros” (Petros or Peter), which is reportedly the biggest strategic drone built in Iran.
And in May, the Iranian version of the US advanced RQ-170 drone was unveiled in a ceremony attended by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.
Experts at the IRGC Aerospace Force manufactured the stealth drone through reverse engineering. On December 4, 2011, an American Lockheed Martin RQ-170 sentinel unmanned aerial vehicle was captured by Iranian forces near the city of Kashmar in northeastern Iran.
The drone was brought down by the Iranian Armed Forces’ electronic warfare unit which commandeered the aircraft and safely landed it.