Israel is trying to discover the extent to which the Iranian announcement regarding the development of a new UAV named “Shaparak” is true.
According to the Iranians, the UAV has a take-off weight of 100 kg and can carry a payload weighing up to 8 kg. In addition, the statement says that the UAV has an endurance of 3.5 hours in altitudes of up to 4 km.
In recent years, Iran has invested considerable efforts in developing UAVs. However, Israel is assessing that its achievements are few.
Currently, Iran is exploiting situations in other countries in order to garner operational experience with their UAVs. As was previously revealed in IsraelDefense, there is proof that Iran has operated UAVs on behalf of the Syrian regime.
According to reports from sources following Iran’s involvement in the Syrian Civil War, an Iranian Pahpad UAV was sighted in the past few weeks in the skies near Homs, Syria, which is considered the most advanced in Syria’s arsenal.
In the past, Tehran has claimed that the UAV possesses stealth qualities. While Western elements doubt this claim, they say that it is undoubtedly an advanced UAV, at least with regards to its aerodynamic configuration.
Iran has previously supplied Hezbollah with self-produced UAVs, and the country has previously developed various basic UAVs as well, including the Ra’ad and Nazir. Four years ago, Iran’s defense minister claimed that his country successfully developed a UAV with a flight range of approximately 1,000 km.
Israel has experience with simple Iranian UAVs launched from southern Lebanon by Hezbollah towards Israel’s northern region. In June 2006, the IAF intercepted a suicide UAV carrying a payload of explosives. The Ababil UAV is a copy of a Russian UAV that is produced in Iran. It first breached Israel’s borders on November 7, 2004, and circled for five minutes over the region of Nahariya, photographing the area with a basic photographic system installed onboard. The Ababil UAV has a flight speed of nearly 300 km/h and has a maximum range of 240 km.
Israel is assessing that advanced Iranian UAVs have already been transferred to Hezbollah. The operation of the Iranian UAV in Syria is part of Tehran’s assistance fo Assad’s regime, as well as an Iranian opportunity to operate it in real conditions.
Source: Israel Defense
Bernd Pulch 