Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18
By Temkin Jafarov, Saeed Isayev - Trend: Iran held presentation of its largest yet home-made UAV, titled "Fotros", IRNA news agency reported on Nov. 18.
Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan and other officials attended the presentation ceremony, which was held on the day of liberation of Iran's city of Susangerd, that was captured by Iraq during the 80's Iran-Iraq war.
The "Fotros" UAV was completely manufactured by Iranian specialists, Dehghan said.
He also said the UAV can fly at an altitude of 25 000 feet, has a flight endurance of 16-30 hours, and effective operational radius of 2000 kilometers.
"The UAV can carry out reconnaissance and surveillance missions, as well as perform combat operations, being armed with air-to-surface missile type rockets," Dehghan said.
The minister went on to add that "Fotros" will be used for surveillance of sea and land borders, oil and gas pipelines, as well as monitoring of post-earthquake disaster areas.
"The UAV has undergone a number of tests, that it passed successfully," Dehghan said.
On September 28, Iran unveiled a domestically designed and built combat drone, dubbed Yasir, in a ceremony attended by senior military officials.
The drone can fly at an altitude of 15000 feet, has a flight endurance of eight hours and effective operational radius of 200 kilometers.
Iran unveiled its first domestically manufactured long-range combat drone, the Karrar (Striker), on August 23, 2010. It reportedly has a range of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) and can carry two 115-kilogram bombs or precision-guided munitions weighing 227 kilograms.
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 missions for 24 hours.
In recent years, Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and has attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems.
Tehran has repeatedly assured other nations that its military might poses no threat to other countries since the Islamic Republic's defense doctrine is based entirely on deterrence.
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