Iran unveils drones armed with air-to-air missiles
In what it considers a significant shift in technological power in the region, Iran has unveiled new combat drones with air-to-air missile capabilities.
“Dozens of Karrar drones, armed with air-to-air missiles, have been added for air defense in all border areas of the country,” the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.
The drones, with an operational range of up to 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), were exhibited on Sunday morning during a televised ceremony organized at a military academy in Tehran, AFP reported.
“The enemies will now have to rethink their strategies” because the Iranian forces have “become more powerful and will have the upper hand in aerial battles,” IRNA quoted the Commander-in-Chief of Iran’s Army Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi as saying.
The Karrar interceptor drone, the first version of which was unveiled in 2010, has been equipped with a Majid thermal missile, with a range of eight kilometers (five miles).
“We have been feeling the need to produce a drone that is made entirely in Iran, isn’t expensive to produce, and can carry out our operations.”
Karrar drones “succeeded in their operational tests” during military exercises held in October, Mousavi said.
The first batch of the drones were supplied to the army for use last month, the commander pointed out.
The development of Iran’s military arsenal has sparked concern among many countries, particularly the United States and Israel, the sworn enemies of the Islamic Republic.
The latter accuse Tehran of providing fleets of drones to its allies in the Middle East, notably to the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah, and to the Houthi group in Yemen.
Tehran has been accused by Kyiv and its Western allies of providing Russia with drones for use in the Ukraine war, a claim Tehran vehemently denies.
Western governments, however, imposed several rounds of biting sanctions on Iran over the alleged arms sales.
Iran began manufacturing drones in the 1980s during its eight-year war with Iraq.