VIDEO: Iran’s IRGC to receive new stealth drone with 2,000km range
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will take delivery of an undisclosed number of stealth drones, Colonel Akbar Karimloo revealed on Sunday.
According to Karimloo, the IRGC will receive the new Fotros stealth drone, which was first unveiled in November of 2013.
In a conversation with the Tasnim News Agency, Karimloo said that the drones would be delivered sometime ‘in the near future’, with the decision to accept the unmanned aerial vehicle into service based on extensive meetings with the ministry of defense, as well as an evaluation of its features.
The Fotros is a large multipurpose drone capable of engaging in reconnaissance and combat operations, with an operational range of up to 2,000 km and an endurance time of up to 30 hours.
The drone is said to have a 7,600 meter flight ceiling, and the ability to be armed with precision-guided air-to-surface missiles or anti-tank missiles.
The drone’s outward appearance seems to be in line with design concepts found in many Western high-tech drone designs, including a bulbous nose similar to that of the US Predator drone, presumably containing the UAV’s avionics.
Otherwise, the UAV matches many of the characteristics of drones produced by other major powers in the region, includes a straight wing design, a twin-boom tail, and rear-mounted engine.
