Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 23
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran has unveiled a new home-made drone equipped with air defense missiles.
It is the first home-made fighter drone which carries air to air missiles, Iran's IRNA news agency reported Sept. 23.
Iran's Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami told reporters that the drone is capable of destroying all types of aircrafts including fighters, small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and helicopters.
Hatami noted that the drone was manufactured by the Islamic Republic's defense ministry.
The Islamic Republic has so far unveiled various home-made drones including Ababil, Fotros, Hazem, Karrar (long range attack drone), Mohajer, Sarir, Shahed 129, Yasir and Zohal.
The country unveiled its first domestically-manufactured long-range UAV named Karrar in 2010.
Iran also inaugurated the production line of two domestically-built UAVs dubbed Raad and Nazir with bombing and reconnaissance capabilities at that year. The two hi-tech drones are capable of performing long-range reconnaissance, patrolling, assault and bombing missions with high precision.
Iran also successfully tested a home-made radar-evading UAV in June 2009.
The first Iranian medium-altitude long-endurance UAV, the Shahed-129 was unveiled in September 2012, which is capable of carrying out combat and reconnaissance eight missions for 24 hours and has a range of 1,700 km.
The country unveiled its largest yet home-made UAV, titled 'Fotros' in 2013. Fotros has a range of some 2,000 kilometers and is capable of launching air-to-surface missile strikes.
The drone can fly at an altitude of 25,000 feet, with a flight time of 16 to 30 hours.
Iran started mass production of the "Yasir" UAV in September 2013. Yasir can fly at an altitude of 15,000 ft., be in flight for eight hours, cover the distance of 200 km, and does not need a runway. The UAV is equipped with light powerful modern cameras, and can precisely control the target.