Iran Exporting High-Tech Drone Engines: Commander
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior IRGC commander said Iran has achieved the technology of high-tech engines for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), saying even the advanced countries vie to sign contract with Iran to buy those engines.
Addressing an academic conference in Tehran on Thursday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Lieutenant Commander Brigadier General Hossein Salami said the country’s local experts have managed to manufacture the advanced engine that extends the range of drones to 3,000 kilometers.
It is a type of rotary engine without pistons, the commander explained, adding that Britain was the sole country in possession of the engine and even the US purchases it from Britain.
“We achieved the technology and today, the advanced countries sign contract with us to have those engines,” Salami added.
He said the pilotless aircraft equipped with such engines can travel 3,000 kilometers with radar-evading features, take images in far distances and transfer the data online.
The comments came after the IRGC Aerospace Force announced in late November that it has extended the operational range of its drones to 3,000 kilometers.
Also earlier in November, the Iranian version of the US advanced RQ-170 drone, reverse engineered and manufactures by the IRGC experts, made maiden flight.
On December 4, 2011, an American Lockheed Martin RQ-170 sentinel drone 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.
