Iran breakthrough with combat UAVs technology

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DUBAI, United Arab  Emirates, Oct. 7 (UPI) ? Iran?s Revolutionary Guards say they?re now  producing armed unmanned aerial vehicles, such as the Shahed-129, capable of  attacking air and ground targets.

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If that?s correct, it marks a significant technological  advance for the Islamic Republic?s defense industry ? even if the Unmanned  Combat Aerial Vehicles, or UCAVs, do appear to be rip-offs of Israeli or U.S.  systems.

In recent days, Iran?s military leaders have claimed  self-sufficiency in the UAV sector and announced initial production of a combat  drone called Raad-85, Farsi for thunder, and the mass production of the  Shahed-129, unveiled in September 2012.

The Shahed, or witness, has an operational radius that tops  1,000 miles, can stay aloft for 24 hours and can carry as many as eight  indigenous Sadid-1 missiles on four under-wing twin-launchers.

According to the U.S. military website Defense Update, the  Shahed-129 is a ?precision-guided version of the Zelzal medium-range rocket.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad-Ali Jafari, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, hailed  Shahed-129, built by the IRGC?s Aerospace Division, as a major technological  breakthrough.

However, it bears more than a passing resemblance to  Israel?s Hermes 450 UAV, built by Elbit Systems. Analysts say it has the same  shape, size, landing gear type and performance characteristics.

Although details of the Shahed?s internal systems, sensor  arrays and ground control station are not known, the similarities with the  Hermes 450 suggests the Iranians may have had access to one of the Israeli  craft, possibly lost on a covert mission, and were able to reverse-engineer its  components.

Tal Inbar, a UAV specialist with Israel?s Fisher Institute  for Strategic Air and Space Studies, said photos of the Shahed-129 indicated a  size and design similar to Elbit Systems? Hermes 900, with what appeared to be a  laser designator for advanced laser-guided anti-tank missiles.

?Based on the visuals, this could be a real UCAV system,  not just a mock-up for exhibitions,? Inbar observed.

Defense Update said that on the basis of the performance  characteristics cited by the Iranians, the Shahed-129 ?is a more powerful  platform with significantly more payload capacity compared to the Israeli  drone.

?Its external shape reflects significant advancement in  composite materials fabrication, including the production of large airframe and  structural elements.?

Defense Update says the Sadid missiles seen on the  Shahed-129 ?are similar in diameter and container size to the Israeli Spike LR  missile,? a long-range anti-tank weapon built by Rafael Advanced Defense  Systems.

Iran captured a U.S. stealth RQ-170, manufactured by  Lockheed Martin, in December 2011 after it went down over the Islamic Republic  during a secret mission for the Central Intelligence Agency.

The Iranians claimed they were able to hack into its  command system and force it to land. The CIA later admitted Iran had captured  one of the highly sensitive surveillance craft designed to evade enemy  defenses.

It was believed the Iranians would seek to reverse-engineer  the RQ-170.

Indeed, Jafari himself claimed in a Sept. 27, 2012,  interview with the semi-official Fars news agency the IRGC had successfully  reverse-engineered a version of the RQ-17.

But if that?s true, the results have not yet been sighted.

?All the memories and computer systems of this plane have  been decoded and some good news will be announced in the near future not just  about the RQ-170 and the optimizations that our forces have done on the  reverse-engineered model ? but also in areas of other important defense  achievements,? IRGC Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami said in September without  elaborating.

The U.S. weekly Defense News quoted Israeli expert Danny  Eshchar as saying he doubted the Shehad-129 was a fully integrated,  combat-capable UCAV for various technical reasons.

?It?s a real air vehicle, but that?s about all,? said  Eshchar, deputy chief executive of Aeronautics Ltd.

The Iranians also unveiled details of new designs,  including photos of a tactical reconnaissance UAV named Yaseer.

The Israeli experts said it appeared to be a copy of the  U.S. ScanEagle, manufactured by Insitu, a subsidiary of the Boeing Co.

Iran claimed to have captured one over the Persian Gulf in  December 2012, plus two more soon after. The U.S. Navy insisted none of its  ScanEagles was missing.

Read more:  http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2013/10/07/Iran-claims-breakthrough-with-Israeli-lookalike-combat-UAVs/UPI-45741381165461/#ixzz2h3waNBsk

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