Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 1
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iranian Air Force UAV commander (name not given) says that the Air Force is launching drone regiments.
The offiical noted that the first class of Iranian UAV aviation cadets will graduate by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (Mar. 20).
He also said that Iran conducted 800 percent more UAV flights the current Iranian year (since Mar. 21, 2014) than the previous year, Fars news agency reported Mar. 1.
Praising advancements by Iran's air forces in manufacturing and operating drones, he said that the country plans to improve its UAV technology in terms of flight range and armament.
In recent years, Iran has made major breakthroughs in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing important military equipment and systems, including a variety of domestically-manufactured drones.
The Islamic Republic unveiled its first domestically-developed long-range combat drone, Karrar (Striker), in August 2010. The country has, ever since, manufactured a whole range of other high-tech surveillance and combat UAVs.
In November 2014, Iran put into operation a final domestically-manufactured version of the sophisticated US RQ-170 stealth aircraft, which was downed with minimal damage by the Iranian Armed Forces' electronic warfare unit in December, 2011 while flying over the Iranian city of Kashmar, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) from the Afghan border.